| 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 (yay-gər-my-stər, stylised as Jägermeiſter; German pronunciation: [ˈjɛːɡɐˌmaɪstɐ]; English: /ˈjeɪɡəmaɪstə/ ) is a German 70-proof (35% abv) digestif[1] made with 56 different herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany.
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The term Jägermeister was introduced in 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 original distiller of Jägermeister, was an enthusiastic hunter.[2]
Translated literally, Jägermeister means "hunt-master", combining Jäger (hunter) and Meister (master, in the sense of an accomplished professional). A possible free translation might be gamekeeper.
In Germany, it may be humorously referred to as 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.”[3]
The Jägermeister logo, which shows the head of a stag with a glowing Christian cross between its antlers, is a reference to the stories of Saint Hubertus and Saint Eustace, patron saints of hunters.[4]
Jägermeister is a type of liqueur called Kräuterlikör (herbal liqueur). It is similar to other central European liqueurs, such as Gammel Dansk from Denmark, Unicum from Hungary, Becherovka from the Czech Republic 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.[5] 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.
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).
Contrary to an urban legend, Jägermeister does not contain deer or elk blood.[5]
The label on Jägermeister bottles 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.[18]
According to Mast-Jägermeister SE,[19] the translation is:
A loose translation which preserves the rhyme and meter is:
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[20] and Porsches. These teams have competed in various major racing series including Formula One (March and EuroBrun), DRM (Max Moritz,[21] 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.[22] 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.[23]
Jägermeister is associated with German football, especially the Bundesliga. In 1973, the Eintracht Braunschweig team became the first soccer team to place a sponsor’s logo on its pants, although the team rejected a related proposal to rename itself "Eintracht Jägermeister". 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.[24]
Liverpool and England footballer Andy Carroll is chief Jager tester of England and has a £1.2 million sponsorship deal with the alcoholic drink makers. 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 promotion by Sidney Frank and through its association with heavy metal bands such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Pantera, HIM, and Slayer.[25] Jägermeister is the tour sponsor of numerous bands of this genre.[26]
Jägermeister has been a sponsor of the second stage at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival since 2008.[27] Mayhem Fest is a large Hard Rock and Modern Metal festival that tours the United States and Canada.[27] In 2008 the stage featured the bands Machine Head, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Walls of Jericho.[28] The 2009 Mayhem Fest Jäger Stage featured Trivium, All That Remains and God Forbid.[29] The 2010 stage featured the bands Hatebreed, Chimaira, Shadows Fall and Winds of Plague.[30] The 2011 stage is billed to feature bands Unearth, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Red Fang. [31]
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,[32] which are Australia’s official independent music charts (run by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association).
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