# How to make Jagermeister palatable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886 "2018-04-05T18:37:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/41 "2018-04-06T03:56:38Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > I always loved the taste and I really don’t love licorice. It’s like licorice that doesn’t suck. Yeah, you either love it or it triggers the ol’ gag reflex. Glad you love it. But the OP doesn’t. Really dislikes it. But is stuck, because a friend likes it and he feels like he has to drink it. > [@OP](#): > > 'm going to the coast this weekend and one of my friends really likes Jagermeister. Although I love licorice, I dislike Jager, but I’m going to be social… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/42 "2018-04-06T03:58:33Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > I always loved the taste and I really don’t love licorice. It’s like licorice that doesn’t suck. Yeah, you either love it or it triggers the ol’ gag reflex. Glad you love it. But the OP doesn’t. Really dislikes it. But is stuck, because a friend likes it and he feels like he has to drink it. > [@OP](#): > > I’m going to the coast this weekend and one of my friends really likes Jagermeister. Although I love licorice, I dislike Jager, but I’m going to be social… ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/43 "2018-04-06T04:05:45Z")
Jager, Malibu Rum and pineapple juice is a Surfer on Acid. They are great as a shot or a drink, and you can get in trouble fast they go down so smooth. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/44 "2018-04-06T04:07:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I drink it straight as a digestif. I think it’s quite good. I can’t imagine mixing it with anything. This is me, too. I sip it slowly and quite enjoy it. I drink Goldschlager and Fireball whiskey the same way. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/45 "2018-04-06T05:52:49Z")
I like Jaeger. I don’t really go out of my way to eat black licorice or drink cough syrup, and I dislike most alcohol but when someone asks to buy me a shot I say Jaeger. I have no idea why it works for me but it does. I can’t imagine mixing it. But that Surfer on Acid sounds good. But really, I agree with everyone else who says don’t mix it, don’t drink it, you do you and let your friend do herself and you guys just have a nice time! ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/46 "2018-04-06T14:00:16Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > It’s not cheap, but consider Absinthe. It has the same licorice flavor but is better suited to sipping. Plus, it has the whole ritual of preparing it with ice cold water and a sugar cube. Classier than Jager. Not after half a bottle it isn’t. It also induces some really messed up dreams as I found out later still that night. Green Faerie indeed. I can only imagine what the old recipes would do to you. The extract of wormwood was considerably higher in the 19th c. and apparently caused some really interesting hallucinations… ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/47 "2018-04-06T14:04:44Z")
If you feel you must drink Jager in solidarity with your friend, have it ice cold, in a shot, down it all at once, and then move on to something you enjoy drinking. My boyfriend enjoys bourbon. I may have a wee sip with him sometimes, but it’s not my usual drink of choice. Why drink his ‘good stuff’ when I don’t really appreciate it? He likes it straight up, and I’m pretty sure mixing it into a cocktail is not going to improve his experience. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/48 "2018-04-06T14:16:32Z")
Introduce her to sambuca. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/49 "2018-04-06T14:17:56Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Not after half a bottle it isn’t. It also induces some really messed up dreams as I found out later still that night. Green Faerie indeed. I can only imagine what the old recipes would do to you. > > The extract of wormwood was considerably higher in the 19th c. and apparently caused some really interesting hallucinations… There seems to be some conflicting research on this. When I looked this up years ago, the research said that it’s unlikely thujone (the “hallucinogen” in absinthe) caused hallucinations. [This report concludes](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228545689_Estimation_of_thujone_levels_in_pre-ban_absinthe) " The most conclusive evidence is provided by a number of studies about the experimental production of absinthes, and the analyses of vintage absinthes, which consistently showed that they contained only relatively low concentrations of thujone (\<10 mg/l)." Or [this](http://www.wormwoodsociety.org/index.php/216-knowledge-library/general-articles-and-editorials/1-the-shaky-history-of-thujone): > [@](#): > > As there is no evidence historical producers tried to maximize thujone content or could evenly accurately test for it, it’s safe to say efforts to increase it are not traditional and modern absinthe is equal to if not higher in thujone content than vintage. [Wikipedia says](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone): > [@](#): > > Thujone is most famous for being a compound in the spirit absinthe. In the past, absinthe was thought to contain up to 260–350 mg/l thujone,[17] but modern tests have shown this to be far too high. A 2008 study of 13 pre-ban (1895–1910) bottles using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) found that the bottles had between 0.5 and 48.3 mg/l and averaged 25.4 mg/l [18][19] A 2005 study recreated three 1899 high-wormwood recipes and tested with GC-MS, and found that the highest contained 4.3 mg/l thujone.[20] GC-MS testing is important in this capacity, because gas chromatography alone may record an inaccurately high reading of thujone as other compounds may interfere with and add to the apparent measured amount.[21] I can’t seem to find the dosage required to produce hallucinatory effects with thujone, but I recall it being high enough that you’d die of alcohol poisoning before you got there. There was some speculation, I believe, that copper caused some of the hallucinations/poisonings. Googling quickly, I find [thie Mental Floss article](http://mentalfloss.com/article/56280/five-absinthe-myths-debunked) that says “Both the oils and the spirits were clear, so the color and clouding effects were artificially created with copper sulfate and antimony trichloride, respectively. When consumed regularly, this mixture could cause copper toxicity and antimony poisoning—both of which can cause hallucinations.” For me, the only effect absinthe has is that it gets you hammered real fast if you’re not careful and are shooting it instead of drinking it diluted, as traditionally done. The absinthes I’ve had were usually in the 120-140 proof range, so it’s easy to lose track of how much you’ve been drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/50 "2018-04-06T14:35:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Jager, Malibu Rum and pineapple juice is a Surfer on Acid. They are great as a shot or a drink, and you can get in trouble fast they go down so smooth. I hate most bourbons and rums…etc…and having once been an actual surfer on acid ( the WATER moves!!!) :eek:🆒…yeah, oh well, some of those recipes do sound pretty good. Someone left some Jager in my freezer, and I was really impressed!! It had been there for years, and I finally wondered what it was… I like it. I do like all those weird semi-medicinal liquors and aperitifs out there though. Also really like anything with ginger in it… really enjoying the new ginger beers, and hard ciders as well. I dont drink very much at all though…one or two beers, or a Jager sample…etc… ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/51 "2018-04-06T15:20:20Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve always been a bit baffled about how Jagermeister became a thing here in the US. My family comes from an herbal liqueur tradition, so we love that kind of stuff, as well as Unicum, Becherovka, Benedictine, Fernet, Lillet, Underberg, etc. But this tends to be a love of Central and some Western Europeans, in my experience. Most people I know just can’t do the bitter herbal stuff. Yes Jagermeister, somehow, is popular here. What marketing genius broke through to the Americans on this product? Recently, on an elegant river cruise in Europe, our Bulgarian waiter brought us Jagermeister as a digestif. Being gracious, we graciously accepted it. But I could not help but chalk it up to cultural differences. He would likely have no way of knowing that it has such a strong reputation in the US as a frat bro party challenge drink. I found it palatable, for its digestif purposes, but I don’t think I will be adding it to my home supply. Now the Calvados that we had, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/52 "2018-04-06T15:35:06Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Oh, _barf_. > > My two least favorite flavors - Licorice and Root Beer - mixed together. > > This is the drink that O’Brien will use on me when my turn comes to betray my wife. I’d take the rats to the face instead. > [@digs](#): > > Seriously, life is way too short to drink something you don’t like for for no good reason. And, no, “because my friend’s drinking it” is _not_ a good reason. I’m sure they’d be fine with you drinking something else… As long as it isn’t milk. [Because that’s an abomination](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=302800). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/53 "2018-04-06T15:54:46Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > […]a relic from the time when primitive people were desperate to brew alcohol out of whatever plants were available. Most human cultures have some version of this type of drink; it was probably also used as “medicine” by a lot of people who _tolerated_ the taste of it because it dulled the pain of the arrow or spear being pulled out of their liver or whatever. Eventually, better medicines were developed, but the “licquers” hung on, probably in some cases to try to skirt rules about drinking from whatever religious or civil authorities looked down on it, in other cases because it was cheap to make, and in some cases because people actually deluded themselves into thinking it tasted good. Jagermeister was created in the 30’s intended to be liqueur so this is all totally wrong. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/54 "2018-04-06T21:10:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > My family is Polish, so we live on this kind of stuff (_nalewki_.) Pretty much every Polish family I know has some sort of vodka or grain spirit that’s been sitting on herbs and/or fruit, honey/sugar syrup/whatnot. German/Bohunk dropmom tried vodka with canned plums. It took a couple months to mellow. But yeah, herbals like Jägermeister are more Central European, usually. > [@Periwinkle](#): > > I have it on hand because I used to work with someone who liked it. I ran across a simple recipe called the Drunk German that just called for mixing it with root beer. On this board some people have said that root beer tastes like German medicine. Which it does, just like Jäger. Who knew vanilla and wintergreen would work so well together? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/55 "2018-04-08T02:17:08Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > German/Bohunk dropmom tried vodka with canned plums. It took a couple months to mellow. But yeah, herbals like Jägermeister are more Central European, usually. Yeah, the Polish version of this is called _śliwóka_ (not to be confused with _śliwowica_ aka slivovitz, which is the distillation of fermented plums.) Anyhow, typically it’s made by steeping Damson or similar tart plums in vodka/grain alcohol cut with a simple syrup (and sometimes also additional spices/herbs). So I guess canned plums is kind of a shortcut version of this, as you got the plums and syrup all in one. But, either way, even if you do it the fresh fruit way, it takes several months to mellow, usually 3-6 months, so that’s a perfectly normal aging time. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/56 "2018-04-08T03:59:06Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Jagermeister was created in the 30’s intended to be liqueur so this is all totally wrong. I have no idea whether the intention with it was to remind people of the type of thing Jacquernagy was talking about, but you have to admit it’s possible they were thinking that. Whether they actually succeeded in creating a similar taste or feel or whatever, would be a different question also. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/57 "2018-04-08T12:58:51Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I have no idea whether the intention with it was to remind people of the type of thing Jacquernagy was talking about, but you have to admit it’s possible they were thinking that. Whether they actually succeeded in creating a similar taste or feel or whatever, would be a different question also. No, I don’t think so, as herbal infusions are completely different from trying to distill from herbs (which of themselves are not good candidates for fermenting, anyway. If you flavor at the distillation phase, you need to start with a base ferment, usually of grains, anyway, though any rich sugar or starch with enzymes source would do.) They made it because it actually tastes good to a lot of people and the herbs are probably associated with medicinal,properties and all that. I make my own herbs infusions from time to time because I love them! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/58 "2018-04-08T13:06:05Z")
Anyhow, the medicinal properties and digestive aid angle is where these herbal infusions started. Look up digestif and kräutlikör. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/59 "2018-04-08T14:34:42Z")
I wish to know more about the marketing genius that transformed Jäger from something your old Oma sips after dinner to a frat shooter. Or maybe it just happened without planning. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886/60 "2018-04-08T15:14:09Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I wish to know more about the marketing genius that transformed Jäger from something your old Oma sips after dinner to a frat shooter. Or maybe it just happened without planning. Sidney Frank touches on the story [himself here.](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050901/qa.html) It’s only a few sentences in the interview, but he makes it sound like it was a little bit of luck with a Baton Rouge paper extolling it for its medicinal qualities and then him getting a bunch of girls called Jagerettes to foist the drink upon men at bars/parties. It’s not the most complete or satisfying answer, but it’s a start from the guy who started popularizing it here in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-jagermeister-palatable/811886.md?page=4)