Jägermeister

Jägermeister

Type	Digestif
Manufacturer	Mast-Jägermeister AG
Country of origin	Wolfenbüttel, Germany
Introduced	1935
Alcohol by volume	35%
Proof (US)	70
Color	Dark brown
Website	www.jagermeister.com

Jägermeister is a German 70-proof digestif 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, it does not contain any deer or elk blood.

General

Jägermeister’s ingredients include alcohol, cane sugar, beet sugar, herbs, and spices. 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 these beverages, Jägermeister has a sweeter taste.

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.

In Germany, the term Bitter applies to only those bitters that are actually bitter. Because Jägermeister has a semi-sweet taste, it is instead considered a Kräuterlikör (literally “herbal liqueur”); the technical term for it is Halbbitter (“half bitter”). Most of the many other brands of Kräuterlikör in Germany are not widely exported.

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.

On its website, 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).

A shot glass of Jägermeister dropped into a glass of Red Bull energy drink makes a cocktail called a Jägerbomb (aka Jägerbull).

The poem

On the edge of the label on a Jägermeister bottle, there appears the following poem by Otto von Riesenthal (1848):

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, the translation is:

It is the hunter’s honour that he

Protects and preserves his game,

Hunts sportsmanlike, honours the

Creator in His creatures.

History

Jägermeister was originally marketed as a medicinal product; it was suggested as a cure for everything from coughing to digestive problems. It was used in World War II as a field anesthetic.

In Germany, it is still drunk as a digestif, sometimes humorously called Leberkleister (“liver glue”). It is also commonly used in small quantities around the home as an insect trap because flies and wasps are drawn to it.

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 inventor of Jägermeister, was an enthusiastic hunter.

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 and Porsches. These teams have competed in various major racing series including Formula One (March and EuroBrun), DRM (Max Moritz, 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. 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.

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.

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 savvy promotion of Sidney Frank and through association with frequent patronage by heavy metal bands such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Pantera, and Slayer. Jägermeister is the tour sponsor of numerous rock and ska bands such as Spunge, Chimaira, Ramesses, GWAR, Dope, Hanzel und Gretyl, Hemlock, 33DEGREE, Mushroomhead, Hed PE, Orange Goblin, Pepper, The Supervillains, Dog Fashion Disco, Bloodhound Gang, SikTh, My Ruin, Corrupt Absolute, Electric Eel Shock, Big John Bates, Psychostick, and STEMM.

Jägermeister was a sponsor of the 2008 Rockstar Mayhem Fest, a large Modern Metal tour that featured the bands Slipknot, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, and The Red Chord. They are also sponsoring the 2009 Mayhem tour.

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, which are Australia’s official independent music charts (run by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association).

In 2008, Jägermeister launched its own podcast, called “The Jägercast.”

See also

• Jägerbomb
• Jägermeister Music Tour

External links

• Official website in English
• Official website in German
• Official website for the United States
• Jägermeister Music Program