Should Chartreuse Be Refrigerated?

Chartreuse needs to travel in the cooler to get from the brewery, needs to stay refrigerated in a liquor store, and needs to be kept in the refrigerator at home. That is, beer should travel from the brewery in a chilled vehicle, be kept in a refrigerated space at the liquor store, and go directly in your refrigerator at home.

If it is direct, Chartreuse may serve really cold, but it is usually served at room temperature. Due to its cream content, it is recommended that you store it in a refrigerator after opening it, as it, like any dairy product, will spoil if not properly stored.

While this liqueur does contain cream, it is a dairy product and requires refrigeration, this liqueur does not actually require any cream. If a liqueur is made with cream (think Bailey’s), then it is more than likely going to require refrigeration, and since the cream eventually goes bad, will likely last for only about 18-24 months.
Fortified wines like vermouth, port, and sherry and cream-based liqueurs, such as Bailey’s Irish Cream, do need to be kept cool. Hard liquors, such as vodka, rum, tequila and whiskey; most liqueurs, including Campari, St. Germain, Cointreau, and Pimms; and bitters are all safe for storage at room temperature. Spirits or liquors, like vodka, tequila, rum, gin, brandy, and whiskey, can be served at room temperature or chilled, depending on individual preferences, according to beverage specialist Anthony Caporale.

Spirits like whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, and others need no refrigeration, as their high alcohol content keeps spirits such as whiskey intact. Most Liquors have also got satisfactory high alcohol content, along with sugars which also help keep flavors preserved. Some fruit-forward liqueurs and a couple of aperitivi–notably including the popular Aperol–are under 15% alcohol by volume, meaning that they are potentially prone to deterioration more readily at room temperature (though will likely last a good amount longer).

Alcohol acts as a preservative, and anything above 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof) is likely to keep as long as you would like, including liqueurs such as Luxardo Maraschino and Green Chartreuse. In general, liqueurs such as Grand Marnier, Campari, Chartreuse, and St. Germaine will keep for very long periods of time stored at room temperature, provided that the liquor has 20 percent alcohol by volume or greater, such as Grand Marnier. High-proof liqueurs, like most absinthes and Chartreuse, can also be stored at room temperature.

Once opened, they must be refrigerated and may keep for a few years. Refrigeration helps, but that will also buy you only about a month when it comes to vermouth. Simple syrup, orgeat, and other syrupy ingredients must be refrigerated, if you are planning on keeping the simple syrup around more than a day or two. That said, many spirits companies suggest keeping bottles cool, dark, and scrubbing off the labels within a year to two after you open them.

As a general rule, you will want to keep your bottles of spirits–even those that have higher alcohol contents–in a cool, dark location, such as your designated wine closet, far away from direct sunlight or extreme temperature fluctuations. When it comes to temperature, spirits should be stored somewhere that is cool and consistent. If its spirit is distilled (think gin, vodka, and other basic spirits that would count as hard liquor), then it is already gone through a process that relies on large temperature swings, and is probably fine stored at room temperature.

She added that the introduction is often due to the fact that people are getting shots at room temperature, which could increase the alcohol and botanicals in Chartreuse. Finds is OK, as, unlike many liqueurs, it tends to evolve and get better over time in bottles. Chartreuse is an Old World liqueur, which has stuck to its traditions.

Like so many European liqueurs, green Chartreuse comes with a good deal of mystery. Green Chartreuse is 110-proof (and incidentally, its fairly garish color comes from natural, leafy sources — I am fairly certain this is the only spirit to have its colour named after it). That said, Green Chartreuse really shines in cocktails, where the Chartreuse sweetness makes for an ideal complement to wine, citrus, and particularly gin. Chartreuse has sweet, tangy, smooth flavors, and the finish is decidedly herbal.

Just like wine, which turns red due to contact with grape skins, Chartreuse gets its deep green color from the leaves of its ingredients. Flavor-wise, chartreuse is extraordinarily complex and has tons of vegetal and herbaceous notes balanced with sweetness. When Chartreuse is chilled with ice and mixed or shaken with other ingredients, the sharp notes from the liquor develop into citrus and fresh, herbal notes from the garden, all while maintaining that peppery structure.

As one of the few green cocktails to dispense with the dependence on cantaloupe, green apple, or minty liquors, Chartreuse Martinis are a pleasant change of pace.
Unlike some wines and beers, spirits and liqueurs do not age in bottles. Fortified wines Like normal wines, bottled wines that are seasoned with alcohol (think Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, and yes, even Vermouth) eventually become oxidized, requiring storage in a refrigerator after you have opened your fortified wine (think Port).

Spirits Like Vodka, Gin, and Whiskey–once you start mixing cocktails, you will begin calling spirits like vodka base spirits as well–do not need refrigeration, but anything that is made with wine is going to oxidize at room temperature and become rancid. Do you ever get the feeling your refrigerator seems like it is been cooled down five days so.. is generally quite high-proof, which is how much its alcohol is.

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