Jägermeister

Jägermeister

Type	Digestif
Manufacturer	Mast-Jägermeister SE
Country of origin	Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany
Introduced	1935
Alcohol by volume	35%
Proof	70
Color	Dark brown

Jägermeister (pron.: /ˈjeɪɡərmaɪstər/ YAY-gər-my-stər, German: [ˈjɛːɡɐˌmaɪstɐ]) is a German 70-proof (35% abv) digestif^[1] made with 56 herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany.

History [edit]

Curt Mast, the original distiller of Jägermeister, was an enthusiastic hunter.^[2] Translated literally, Jägermeister means "hunting-master", combining Jäger (hunter) and Meister (master, in the sense of an accomplished professional). A possible free translation might be gamekeeper or game warden.

The term Jägermeister has existed as a job title for many centuries. It was redefined in 1934 in the new Reichsjagdgesetz (Imperial Hunting Law). The term was applied to senior foresters and gamekeepers in the German civil service, and Hermann Göring was appointed Reichsjägermeister (Imperial Gamekeeper). Thus, when Jägermeister was introduced in 1935, its name was already familiar to Germans — it was sometimes called "Göring-Schnaps."

Jägermeister was originally developed as a digestif and a cough remedy.^[3] In Germany, it may be humorously referred to as Leberkleister (“liver glue”). The humor plays upon the fact that Leberkleister rhymes with Jägermeister. A satirical advertisement which mocks Jägermeister as Leberkleister appeared on the back cover of issue number 70 of the German edition of Mad magazine in February, 1975, under the rubric "Advertisements we'd like to see".^[4]

In 2012, Jägermeister launched premixed drinks as a brand extension. The drinks come in two flavours, "raw" and "ginger lime".^[5]

Composition [edit]

Jägermeister is a type of liqueur called Kräuterlikör (herbal liqueur). It is similar to other European liqueurs, such as Gammel Dansk from Denmark, Unicum from Hungary, Becherovka from the Czech Republic, Demänovka from Slovakia and Pelinkovac from Croatia. In contrast to those beverages, Jägermeister has a sweeter taste.

Jägermeister’s ingredients include 56 herbs, fruits, roots and spices including citrus peel, licorice, anise, poppy seeds, saffron, ginger, juniper berries and ginseng.^[6] These ingredients are ground, then steeped in water and alcohol for 2–3 days. Afterwards, this mixture is filtered and stored in oak barrels for about a year. When a year has passed, the liqueur is filtered again, then mixed with sugar, caramel, alcohol and water. It is filtered one last time and then bottled.^{[unreliable source?]}

The producer recommends that Jägermeister be kept on ice and served cold and suggests that it be kept in a freezer at -18°C (0°F) or on tap between −15 °C (5 °F) and −11 °C (12 °F).^{[citation needed]}

Contrary to an urban legend, Jägermeister does not contain deer or elk blood.^[6]

Cocktails [edit]

• A shot glass of Jägermeister dropped into a glass of Red Bull energy drink makes a cocktail called a Jägerbomb.^[7]

Label [edit]

The labels on Jägermeister bottles feature a glowing Christian cross in the middle of a stag's horns.^[8][9] This imagery is in reference to the two Christian patron saints of hunters, Saint Hubertus and Saint Eustace, both of whom converted to Christianity after experiencing visions where a crucifix appeared to them in between the antlers of a deer.^{[10][8][11][9]}

An icon of Saint Hubert depicting the apparition of a crucifix between the antlers of a stag; this occurrence is depicted on the bottle of Jägermeister

The label on Jägermeister bottles also feature the following verse from the poem Weidmannsheil, by the forester, hunter, and ornithologist Oskar von Riesenthal (1830–1898). Riesenthal is uncredited on the label.^[12]

Das ist des Jägers Ehrenschild,

daß er beschützt und hegt sein Wild,

weidmännisch jagt, wie sich’s gehört,

den Schöpfer im Geschöpfe ehrt.

According to Mast-Jägermeister SE,^[13] the translation is:

It is the hunter’s honour that he

Protects and preserves his game,

Hunts sportsmanlike, honours the

Creator in His creatures.

A loose translation which preserves the rhyme and meter is:

This is the hunter’s badge of glory,

That he protect and tend his quarry,

Hunt with honour, as is due,

And through the beast to God be true.

Sponsorships [edit]

A Brun Motorsport Porsche 956, sponsored by Jägermeister.

Sports [edit]

From the 1970s, the Jägermeister brand has developed an association with motor racing, as they have sponsored various European racing teams, primarily those who fielded BMWs^[14] and Porsches. These teams have competed in various major racing series including Formula One (March and EuroBrun), DRM (Max Moritz,^[15] Kremer, Zakspeed), DTM and Group C (Brun Motorsport), who took the team title in the 1986 World Sportscar Championship.

Jägermeister's orange livery is one of the more commonly recognised in motorsport. The Spanish Fly slot car brand has recently brought out model cars with the distinctive design. More recently, they introduced the Naylor Racing NHRA Pro Stock car, minus its signature orange livery.^[16] The livery’s notability was proven when an article in the January 31, 2008, edition of Autosport listed it as one of the twenty most iconic commercial colour schemes.^[17]

Jägermeister is associated with German football, especially the Bundesliga. In 1973, the Eintracht Braunschweig team became the first Bundesliga team to place a sponsor’s logo on its jersey,^[18] although the team rejected a related proposal to rename itself "Eintracht Jägermeister".^[19] The sponsorship, very controversial at the time, paid the team 100,000 DM (€51,130) and introduced a new way of doing business in soccer. Other teams quickly followed suit. Jägermeister now displays its advertisements at several soccer stadiums in Germany.^[20]

Jägermeister also had an involvement in table tennis; it sponsored a domestic team called TTC Jägermeister Calw and was a personal sponsor of Dragutin Šurbek.

Music [edit]

The rapper Vanilla Ice pouring Jägermeister while performing Ice Ice Baby in 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland.

In the United States, Jägermeister became popular through promotion by Sidney Frank and through its association with heavy metal- and rockbands such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Pantera, Slayer, HIM, The Bloodhound Gang, Psychostick, and Turbonegro.^[21] Jägermeister is the tour sponsor of numerous bands of this genre.^[22]

Jägermeister has been a sponsor of the second stage at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival since 2008.^[23] Mayhem Fest is a large Hard Rock and Modern Metal festival that tours the United States and Canada.^[23] In 2008 the stage featured the bands Machine Head, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Walls of Jericho.^[24] The 2009 Mayhem Fest Jäger Stage featured Trivium, All That Remains and God Forbid.^[25] The 2010 stage featured the bands Hatebreed, Chimaira, Shadows Fall and Winds of Plague.^[26] The 2011 stage is billed to feature bands Unearth, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Red Fang.^[27]

The Jägermeister Music Tour, which is owned by Sidney Frank Importing, is an event that is held each year in the spring and fall.^{[citation needed]}

In Australia, Jägermeister sponsors the AIR Charts,^[28] which are Australia’s official independent music charts (run by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association).

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jägermeister is sponsor of Jägermeister Music Night and Sarajevo Metal Fest.

See also [edit]

• Becherovka
• Kräuterlikör
• Schnapps

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jägermeister

• Official website in English
• Official website in German
• Official website for the United States

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