Jägermeister

Jägermeister
Jagermeister bottle.jpg
Type Digestif
Manufacturer Mast-Jägermeister AG
Country of origin Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany
Introduced 1935
Alcohol by volume 35%
Proof 70
Colour Dark brown

Jägermeister (German pronunciation: [ˈjɛːɡɐˌmaɪstɐ]; English: /ˈjeɪɡərmaɪstər/ YAY-gər-mye-stər) is a German 70-proof digestif[1] made with herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister AG, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Germany.

Contrary to an urban legend, Jägermeister does not contain elk blood.[2]

Contents

History

The term Jägermeister was introduced in Nazi Germany in 1934 in the new Reichsjagdgesetz (Reich hunting law). The term was applied to senior foresters and gamekeepers in the German civil service. Thus, when the liquor was introduced in 1935, the name was already familiar to Germans. Curt Mast, the inventor of Jägermeister, was an enthusiastic hunter.[3]

In Germany, it is often humorously called Leberkleister ("liver glue"). The humor plays upon the fact that Leberkleister is an exact rhyme 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.”[1]

Composition

Jägermeister is a type of liqueur called Kräuterlikör (herbal liqueur).

Jägermeister’s ingredients include 56 herbs, fruits, roots, and spices including citrus peel, liquorice, anise, poppy seeds, saffron, ginger, juniper berries and ginseng.[4] 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.[5] It is a digestif spirit similar to other central European stomach bitters, such as Gammel Dansk from Denmark, Unicum from Hungary, and Becherovka from the Czech Republic. In contrast to those beverages, Jägermeister has a sweeter taste.

On its website and on the back of the bottle, the producer recommends that Jägermeister be consumed cold and suggests that it be kept in a freezer at −18°C (0°F) or on tap between −15° and −11°C (5° to 12°F).

Cocktails

Branding

Translated literally, Jägermeister means "hunt-master", combining Jäger (hunter) and Meister (master, in the sense of an accomplished professional). A free translation would be gamekeeper or forest supervisor. As a legal term, Jägermeister was introduced in 1934 to designate senior foresters and gamekeepers in the forestry administration.

The Jägermeister logo, which shows the head of a stag with a glowing cross between its antlers, is a reference to the stories of Saint Hubertus and Saint Eustace, patron saints of hunters.[11]

Poem

On the edge of the label on a Jägermeister bottle, there appears the following uncredited verse from the poem Weidmannsheil by the forester, hunter, and ornithologist Oskar von Riesenthal (1830–1898)[12]

Das ist des Jägers Ehrenschild,
daß er beschützt und hegt sein Wild,
weidmännisch jagt, wie sich’s gehört,
den Schöpfer im Geschöpfe ehrt.

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 is true.

According to Mast-Jägermeister AG,[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.

Sponsorship

A Brun Motorsport Porsche 956, sponsored by Jägermeister.

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 color schemes.[17]

Jägermeister is associated with German football, especially the Bundesliga. In 1973, the Eintracht Braunschweig team was the first soccer team to place a sponsor’s logo on its jerseys, although they rejected a related attempt to rename the team "Eintracht Jägermeister". The move, very controversial at the time, paid the team 100,000 DM (€51,130) and introduced a new way of doing business in soccer. Other clubs quickly followed suit. Jägermeister now displays advertising at several soccer stadiums in Germany.[18]

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.

In the United States, Jägermeister became popular through the promotion of Sidney Frank and through association with frequent patronage by heavy metal bands such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Pantera, and Slayer.[19] Jägermeister is the tour sponsor of numerous rock and ska bands such as Bullet for My Valentine amongst others[20].

Jägermeister has been a sponsor of the second stage at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival from 2008-2010. Mayhem Fest is a large Modern Metal festival that tours the United States and Canada. In 2008 the stage featured the bands Machine Head, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Walls of Jericho. The 2009 Mayhem Fest Jäger Stage featured Trivium, All That Remains and God Forbid. And now the 2010 Mayhem tour with the bands Hatebreed, Chimaira, Shadows Fall and Winds of Plague. Jägermeister is also sponsoring the second stage at the all new "Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar" tour featuring the bands Hellyeah, Airbourne, Hail the Villain and New Medicine.

The Jägermeister Music Tour, which is owned by Sidney Frank Importing, is an event that is held each year in the spring and fall.

In Australia, Jägermeister sponsors the AIR Charts,[21] which are Australia’s official independent music charts (run by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association).

In 2008, Jägermeister launched its own podcast, called “Jägercast.”[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The bitter truth, Drinks International, 1 October 2007
  2. ↑ Jägermeister contains deer or elk blood
  3. ↑ http://www.jager.com/default.aspx?sid=0eehzh55rdoihv45mqwbtdqd#/us-en/story/Company
  4. ↑ Bartending for Dummies (2006), Ray Foley, ISBN 047005056X
  5. ↑ Jägermeister contains deer or elk blood
  6. ↑ Silver Bullet Cocktail
  7. ↑ Jagermonster at Drink of the Week
  8. ↑ Jagermonster at Drinks Mixer
  9. ↑ Golden Elk Drink Recipe
  10. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AqvkxgJUbw&feature=channel
  11. ↑ New York Times: Biblical Art in a Secular Century
  12. ↑ page 49, Jagdwende: Vom Edelhobby zum ökologischen Handwerk, Wilhelm Bode, Elisabeth Emmert, pub. C.H.Beck, 2000, ISBN 3406459935 Google Books
  13. ↑ Jager.com, Our story
  14. ↑ BMW am Jägermeister Look Photo series, auto racing
  15. ↑ Exoto's Racing Legends — Porsche 934 RSR/935 Turbo Jägermeister Gift Set
  16. ↑ Sidney Frank Importing Co., Inc.: Start Your Engines! Jägermeister Teams Up With Naylor Racing and the NHRA!, February 8, 2006
  17. ↑ Flying Colours by Henry Hope-Frost, Autosport, 31 January 2008
  18. ↑ Official website in English
  19. ↑ Metallica and the Story of Thrash: Metal Hammer Special, dated July 2008, pp. 56–59.
  20. ↑ Jägermusic.com
  21. ↑ Welcome to the Jägermeister Air Charts!
  22. ↑ Jagercast.ie

External links

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