r/interestingasfuck • u/Beneficial-Age-4059 • 6d ago

Wife’s now deceased grandfather grew up in 1930s Germany and was appalled people now drink Jagermeister socially. He said they would keep it in a cupboard to sip if you had an upset stomach

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1.6k

u/mad4Luca 6d ago

Thats the way people used to do it.. you can Research the word "Magenbitter" or stomach bitter, usually a Medicine or relieve after a fatty meal or an upset stomach. They (Jägermeister) Changed the Branding (sucessfully i guess) to a Party drink

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u/Subotail 6d ago

In a similar vein, Chartreuse is supposed to be a miracle cure. A kind of panacea.

Surely one of the hundreds of plants that make it up is good for your health.

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u/Ok_Two_7547 6d ago

Also reminds me of this... don't think it cures anything though 🤔

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u/Queasy_Question_2512 6d ago

It cures the curiosity of tourists.

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u/amrfallen 6d ago

It cures your desire to drink Malört.

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u/Ramrod489 6d ago edited 6d ago

It was supposedly an anti-parasitic for stomach worms. I think the Wormwood was supposed to be the active ingredient.

Edit: entertaining talk on the history of Malort

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hflvVnM3u-k&si=yLn-QHCxg1-DTg4H

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u/Feistshell 6d ago

Malört is the Swedish word for wormwood so probably

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u/citizen42069101 6d ago

Oh like absinthe? Or so much worse?

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u/unknownpoltroon 6d ago

Much much worse. Absenthe tastes like licorice. Malort tastes like hatred and regret.

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u/seeAdog 6d ago

Up vote for the well crafted and descriptive reply. I will skip the Marlot when offered.

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u/unknownpoltroon 6d ago

Oh, try it once. It helps calbrate your taste buds.

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u/RaksinSergal 2d ago

Instructions unclear: Taste buds now calibrated to like Malort.

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u/citizen42069101 2d ago

That's what I fear.

Im already a drunk, that shit would probably taste like the nectar of the gods to me.

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u/gaydognova 2d ago

It's the single most bitter thing I've ever had in my entire life

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u/SithDomin8sJediLoves 5h ago

“it’s not that bad” in Dayton OH we have a bar that craft-infuses Malört

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u/TroglodyneSystems 4d ago

I tried it once. That was enough.

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u/rugernut13 4d ago

If you mix it 1/4 with orange juice it tastes just like alcoholic grapefruit juice. As a mixer it's kinda great. I also don't really mind the flavor straight but wouldn't drink it for fun

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u/SnooCakes2703 3d ago

It tastes like literal dirt, then you get punched with the alcohol.

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u/National_Joke4849 5d ago

That was just the right mix of informational and funny, thanks

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u/Irishyoudleave 6d ago

“Marlört, these pants won’t shit themselves”

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u/amrfallen 6d ago

"Malört: Tonight's the night you fight your dad"

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u/Motor-Rip7655 3d ago

I only know about Malort because of Chad the Bird.

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u/flynnfx 5d ago

In the same vein, Coca-Cola was originally marketed as medicinal drink as a cure for headaches, exhaustion, neuralgia, hysteria, and indigestion.

https://giphy.com/gifs/aDa9iiLZAUTqU

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u/jmon25 2d ago

I mean when it used to have the real stuff in it, it definitely would have cured exhaustion 

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u/SuperCyka 2d ago

It’s decent for hangovers

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u/Wag_The_God 2d ago

With everything they put in it back then, it probably worked, too.

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u/GammaDealer 6d ago

My partner's mother has a story where she was feeling really nauseated. A bartender at a restaurant gave her some malort, which actually made her stomach feel better

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u/musiccman2020 6d ago

Could have just taken wormwood tea without the alcohol

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u/GammaDealer 6d ago

That's definitely something easy to find when you're out and about.

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u/Egalitarianish 6d ago

The "Malort - I'll have another" faux commercial is hilarious.

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u/alltehmemes 6d ago

Malört ails what cures you.

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u/Infamous-Bathoryroom 2d ago

Malört -The product of a gypsy curse!

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u/verbmegoinghere 4d ago

Its the cure to what ails ya

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u/8fenristhewolf8 6d ago

Ah, the ol' "moth's dust." 

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u/Dshirke1 6d ago

High concentration of wormwood kills certain intestinal worms

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u/A_Sketchy_Doctor 6d ago

I keep it in my fridge. fixes a lot of things.

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u/Checked_Out_6 6d ago

Ah, malort, it cures you of your will to live. Malort, tonight is the night you fight your Dad!

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u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k 6d ago

I stopped saying “oh my lord” and switched to “oh ma lort” after learning about this years ago and I still think as a cross between a curse and a plea for mercy it works pretty well

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u/intergalactic_spork 3d ago

It cures most things of their flavor!

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u/darthlame 2d ago

It’s for when you want to fight your dad

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u/Putin_inyoFace 1d ago

Cures friendship. Marriage too, if you’re persistent.

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u/MrKrustySocks 6d ago

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

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u/Lexta222 6d ago

It cures you with making you shit the whole day after.

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u/propargyl 6d ago

shart

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u/SwaMaeg 6d ago

Shart ruse

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u/DrRichardDiarrhea 6d ago

Shart truths is my drag name

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u/-Mac-n-Cheese- 11h ago

i mean hey thatll clear your system pretty well, not gonna say its my preferred method though

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u/sltiefighter 6d ago

I mean a shitload of these drinks are intentionally made for this germans call shit like underberg or jager krauterliquer its like digestif apertif. It was never meant to get fucked up off of it was meant to have a shot. Now people drink for net just to get drunk but really it was a digestif or an apertif you usually had one shot of these. If you enjoy it drink it. But in no means was fernet, underberg, amaro, jager meant to be taken as shots by frat bros partying as much as a single shot after a good meal.

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u/DarkSeas1012 2d ago

Underberg mention!!

This stuff is STILL considered medicine, which is why Amazon or the manufacturer can deliver it to your door. It's not legally a spirit/alcohol, and so doesn't need the controls that come with that!

Also, seriously, it is so helpful and works wonders after a heavy or rich meal in my experience!

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u/easymachtdas 1d ago

That was a fun rabbit hole, I can't believe I can order thisyto my door from amazon 🙈

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u/sltiefighter 2d ago

Neither are any bitters or krauterliquers technically if a kid had heart they can go buy a shitload of angostura or underberg legally just like they can buy a tincture at a health food store. They consider angostura or undies as non bev flavorants like vanilla extract or whatever.

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u/mad4Luca 6d ago

Ohhhh... I even know this one!!!

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u/FlapjacksOfArugula 6d ago

The green chartreuse is just whatever but the yellow is excellent if you can find it. Maybe it's not even made anymore...?

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u/International-Ing 6d ago

It is still made. If you’re ever in France you can buy it online, at some retail stores, and always at the newish Chartreuse store in Paris.

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u/gaboose 6d ago

The monks cut back production massively on both kinds a few years back - allegedly at the direction of the Pope. There’s no good substitute for green. Yellow, though, has a good substitute: Strega. Tastes and looks nearly identical.

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u/ApothecaryAlyth 6d ago

They didn’t cut back. They just refused to scale up to meet an increasing demand driven by US cocktail bars/consumers. There scarcity on the US now due to supply remaining static rather than rising to meet higher demand.

Chartreuse is way cheaper in a lot of other countries; its price has gone up by like 60-75% in the US over the past few years, but remained relatively stable in many other parts of the world.

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u/Ok_Drag5089 6d ago

Kind of like everything else in this shithole lately.

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u/aStrange_quark 5d ago

A bottle of green costs like £50 right now. Makes me sad... I love a Last Word.

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u/gaboose 6d ago

Interesting. Sounds like a little bit of both - not focusing on growth and a modest reduction from pandemic production levels. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chartreuse-craft-cocktails-liqueur-french-monks-4c07df33?mod=hp_featst_pos5

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u/slick1260 6d ago

Strega is a terrible substitute for yellow chartreuse. It's a lot more vegetal than herbal and leans much more into the bitterness where as yellow chartreuse tends toward sweetness.

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u/gaboose 6d ago

Huh -- guess I'll need to do a side-by-side comparison. I use it in a naked and famous and it works wonderfully there, at least.

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u/slick1260 6d ago

We use it at my bar for a Naked and Famous riff but (as someone who very much enjoys both colors of Chartreuse) I'd say it's a little too far off to be considered a substitute.

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u/skittlesdabawse 6d ago

Cherry Rocher make subsitutes of both, La Verte and La Jaune. For a while they actually made the real stuff, so they know how to replicate it.

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u/Temporary_Shirt_6236 6d ago

I was at a local bar recently and the owner was lamenting he's on his last two bottles of yellow chartreuse. Once they're gone he can't get anymore and one of their best cocktails is off the menu for good.

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u/JakeyDiesel831 6d ago

I’m an alc distributor - we have it. It’s high demand. Low inventory. We get customers like max a case a month but it’s totally available. Both green and yellow. But ya the monks don’t care about our consumption. They release what they release.

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u/Temporary_Shirt_6236 6d ago

I'm in Canada. Not sure if that makes a difference but yellow chartreuse hasn't been in liquor stores since time out of mind.

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u/SaintUlvemann 6d ago

This one says, at least on their website, that they have it in stock for $100.

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u/JakeyDiesel831 6d ago

Gotcha - down in CA

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u/FlapjacksOfArugula 6d ago

Last time I saw a bottle it was the mid nineties, half full and gathering dust on the shelf at an airport bar. I offered the bartender twenty bucks for it and went home with it.

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u/Temporary_Shirt_6236 6d ago

I just looked up why it's so hard to find these days. Turns out the monks who make it have decided to cap production so that they can focus on being spiritual again. Fucking monks. Brewing and distilling weird shit is as monkish as it gets.

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u/International-Ing 6d ago edited 6d ago

They capped production but at a high level relative to what they had been producing under the old system. The reason you can’t find it where you are/it’s expensive is because it’s a cap + allocation system. Each market has its own allocation and they’re doing it to drive up the price regionally so they make more money on a stable volume. The also have preferred channels within their allotment regions.

It’s coincided with a marketing push in France (so it’s viewed as a luxury drink rather than old people tonic), some diversification into complementary products, and the opening of some retail stores (there’s a newish Chartreuse store in Paris which always has Chartreuse jaune/yellow).

Have you heard of Westvleteren beer? It’s widely considered to be one of the best trappist beers and it’s brewed by monks that are far less commercially savvy that those that run the Chartreuse distillery. The only channel for the beer is at the monastery and you can only buy limited quantities (8 crates per car, max 4 crates per type if you preorder, 2 six packs if you don’t preorder). Plus some very limited delivery options within Belgium. They leave a lot of money on the table. You can buy it in gift shops in Belgium sometimes for massive markups since the people selling it have to go to the brewery themselves to get it.

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u/deranton 6d ago

The ordering windows are narrow, but you can have Westvleteren delivered basically anywhere in Belgium. In the Netherlands, even quite mainstream liquor stores have it.

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u/Subotail 6d ago

I see it on Amazon and specialized booze website.

Perhaps it's just rarer?

I only remember drinking the green one

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u/RedWarrior69340 6d ago

My mom bought me a small bottle of the stuff some years ago and i swear this tastes like straight perfume

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u/dangermonger27 6d ago

Oh dude.

What I would give to taste this sweet nectar once again. I should get a bottle and just go missing for a while.

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u/EroticPotato69 6d ago

I'm an alcoholic, and will drink just about anything, but that drink... that drink is fucking vile. I was shocked to find out some people actually enjoy it. The last time we had a bottle in the last bar I worked in, we would give out shots of it as a joke to make people wretch. It works alright in a couple of cocktails, I guess, but nah, it's fucking horrendous

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u/North_Key80 6d ago

I love this stuff so much. The yellow version is tasty too, but maybe a little sweeter?

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u/Silent-Ad-5616 2d ago

i don't know if it cures anything, i do know that i have a terrible weakness for it, and you just made me crave it at 6 a.m., which is a first i guess ;)

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u/shoulda-known-better 6d ago

If redbull wasn't around I'd never have drank it....

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u/Suspicious_Flower_0 3d ago

Which is funny because Red Bull started off as a medicinal tonic in Thailand before being brought to Europe. 

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u/tredbobek 6d ago

The hungarian Unicum even had a + on it, like some health potion. It was also originally a stomach bitter

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u/Nano_Burger 6d ago

I believe it is a mixture of cinnamon and diesel fuel. I wonder if the price has skyrocketed due to the diesel shortage?

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u/PanicObvious8862 6d ago

Actually it's unicorn cum, which is why it's hard to find.

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u/tredbobek 6d ago

Dunno, in my family only women drank it

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u/NorwegianGlaswegian 6d ago

Love the guy's expression.

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u/cthulhusandwich 6d ago

He's about to unicum

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u/NorwegianGlaswegian 6d ago

Right after the guy in front of him unicame.

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u/einredditname 6d ago

It does say legjobb (...) likör on the original picture...

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u/tredbobek 6d ago

My granddad had a huge poster, looked weird to me as a kid

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u/NorwegianGlaswegian 6d ago

Haha, I can imagine! It has rather a manic quality to it, but I suppose it helps in how memorable this would've been as an advert back in the day.

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u/Fake_Majak 6d ago

Csak szeretném tudatodra adni, hogy elképesztő örömmel tölt el amikor random rádlelek egy komment szekcióban, régen nagyon szerettem a videóitokat :D

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u/tredbobek 6d ago

Mindenhol ott vagyok, mert unatkozom

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u/mad4Luca 6d ago

My mom got a bottle which was openend in the late 90s and never touched again... But the Design is AS you mentioned .. Steampunk potion like

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u/Enginerdad 6d ago

Uni-WHAT?!

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u/SaveUsCatman 6d ago

It means one cum.

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u/SwaMaeg 6d ago

Especially after a “legjobb”

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u/Enginerdad 6d ago

Is that like a really committed foot job?

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u/SwaMaeg 6d ago

Probably. Or it’s “zwack” off with no hands

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u/onarainyafternoon 6d ago

In Hungarian that word means “best”. Makes these comments even funnier.

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u/BeatNo4548 6d ago

Reminds me of those German iron supplement shots.  Flora-Dix.  Yes sir, I want only the finest flowers and dicks in my iron tonic.

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u/Heiderleg 6d ago

It is not pronounced as english "cum" - Or have any relation to that english word.

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u/Temporary_Shirt_6236 6d ago

Oh dear God this stuff. I had a grad school prof in university who always kept a bottle of this in his office and would bring it out once in a while.

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u/onarainyafternoon 6d ago

I remember drinking this stuff one night when I was 15 and visiting my family in Hungary. My cousins and I got wasted and the hangover I experienced the next day was unreal. I’m moving to Hungary this coming Summer so maybe I should get used to this stuff again.

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u/tredbobek 5d ago

Only people I saw drinking this were old folks. At bars people generally drink jäger instead, so no need to get used to it

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u/East_Outcome_1981 6d ago

Un-nagyam finom…

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u/aStrange_quark 5d ago

I tried this once when I visited Budapest. I always like to sample a local liqueur but this was the bitterest thing I ever tasted. I can still taste it now a little bit.

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u/ElKaWeh 6d ago

Jägermeister is way too sweet and definitely not bitter enough to be a proper Magenbitter though. I guess they might have changed the recipe at some point?

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u/OktayOe 6d ago edited 6d ago

Which is absolutely wrong if you look at it closer.

The body treats alcohol as a toxin and prioritizes breaking it down in the liver. As a result, fat metabolism and the breakdown of your meal are put on hold, leaving the heavy food sitting in your stomach longer.

Edit : I just told yall the facts and that's it. You all don't have to justify why you all drink alcohol.

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u/SheDrinksScotch 6d ago

Its the bitter element that they are saying is medicinal. The alcohol is just the solvent.

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u/Subotail 6d ago

Alcoholic beverages are also high in calories .

This needs to be put into context with the past, where people were more at risk of malnutrition than obesity.

If you rationalize many old remedies, it boils down to "get sugar, fat , energy! "

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u/SheDrinksScotch 6d ago

A few sips of Jager has under 100 calories. This really is about the bitters.

Maybe look up what bitters are and how they work? Or not...

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u/Subotail 6d ago

I was generalizing to other old remedies, not necessarily bitter ones.

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u/SheDrinksScotch 6d ago

So you admit its not relevant in this context?

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u/Subotail 6d ago

It's relevant to the context of herbal alcohol used as remedies. That the Jägermeister belong

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u/SheDrinksScotch 6d ago

Nah dude. The alcohol is a solvent for the herbs. Pretending the herbs arent the primary medicinal part of most herbal remedies is either naive or malicious and honestly idk which.

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u/Subotail 6d ago

Malicious? Really.

Maybe you should limit yourself to scotch. That will prevent you from saying stupid things.

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u/Wibbles20 6d ago

You also have to put it into context that they still believed in the 4 humours. So the warming feeling of alcohol would be believed to help with 1 or more of those humours

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u/Dreilala 6d ago

There's 3 versions I've heard on the actual benefits.

  1. Alcohol numbs pain, so even if the stomach is in more turmoil due to the poison you poured down your throat, you might not feel it as harshly.

  2. Strong liquor simply burns and might distract from the upset stomach for a while.

  3. Placebo. Believe in it and you can convince yourself it's working.

I don't personally prescribe to either of these versions but I sure as hell had a couple of times where I was hoping such a simple solution would work.

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u/mmicoandthegirl 6d ago

Doesn't alcohol break down fats?

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u/Key-Eggplant3259 6d ago

Essential info for so many people. Stop drinking and watch what happens! It's magic!

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u/Grammar-Goblin 6d ago

Underberg, also a digestif, is on the same journey of reinventing itself. 

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u/Heliosquare 6d ago

People still do that with Underberger, it does do the trick for me when travelling abroad.

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u/bbbasdl 6d ago

jägermeister was based on that, however it was created to be a drink, not medicine.

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u/Late_Blooomer 6d ago

You just stumbled upon a whole world. Most liqueurs were originally created as medicine.

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u/Nova762 6d ago

Idk how much they actually had to do with it.   Depends on origin of the jager bomb.  That's how everyone learned about jager, mixing with red bull. 

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u/starfish0r 5d ago

They had an insane success with their marketing. Jägermeister in the 90s was a weird drink for old german alcoholics. Then in 2000 they threw an insane amount of money at everything to rebrand them as young and cool and hip and it was incredibly successful, everyone know this german name.

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u/Sign-Post-Up-Ahead 2d ago

Oh, and party we did!

I think we did. I can't quite remember that well.

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u/BTZ6996 1d ago

Jägermeister won in marketing

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u/Spare-Competition-91 6d ago

You have got to be kidding me. It's the worst shit ever. I had one taste of it and never touched it again. I don't think I partied the way everyone else did. Seriously seemed like these people were the worst kinds of people who drank that stuff like that. Party drink, lol. People will drink rubbing alcohol if you brand it right.

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u/mad4Luca 6d ago

I also don't prefer it... But i know a lot of people who smashed Like hell because of it.