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Friday, Oct.
23, 2009
LIQUID CULTURE
This obscure liqueur may save your soul
Made by monks and distilled to a secret recipe, Stellina has
quite a story to tell
By NICHOLAS COLDICOTT
This isn t a story about Chartreuse, but let s begin there.
In...
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Share |
Friday, Oct.
23, 2009
LIQUID CULTURE
This obscure liqueur may save your soul
Made by monks and distilled to a secret recipe, Stellina has
quite a story to tell
By NICHOLAS COLDICOTT
This isn t a story about Chartreuse, but let s begin there.
In Voiron, near Grenoble in southeast
France, Carthusian monks distill a
liqueur from 130 medicinal herbs, roots
and leaves.
The recipe is a tightly
guarded secret, known only to three
holy brothers.
It was conceived as an
elixir of life, but so fine was the flavor
that French toffs began drinking it with
ice as a fancy digestif.
Chartreuse is a kaleidoscopic drink,
sweet yet fiery, floral, minty and
distinctly aniseedy; it is, said the
stuttering Anthony Blanche in Evelyn
Waugh s "Brideshead Revisited," like
swallowing a sp-spectrum.
A green 110-proof Chartreuse and a
yellow 80-proof version now furnish
every half-decent bar in the world.
But this isn t a story about Chartreuse;
it s a story about Stellina, an herbal
liqueur distill
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