“No way. I haven’t touched that stuff since college.”
“Seriously? You put that in a cocktail? That? Really?”
“Dude, we’re not 22 anymore. Don’t even start with the Jäger.”
It seems like every time I mention this drink, this is how people respond, and the toughest part of making this drink is convincing people to try it. The Jägerita is exactly what it sounds like: a traditional margarita recipe with Jägermeister instead of tequila. I’ll admit that I was skeptical too when I first saw the cocktail described in a Jeffrey Morgenthaler video, but he hasn’t steered me wrong yet, so I decided to try it out. (Also, Jessi tossed a mini bottle of Jäger in our cart during the last Total Wine run, so I had to use it somehow. Her impulse buys have led to some really great drinks lately. I might have to keep her around.)

Introduced in the 1930s, Jägermeister is one of the most batshit crazy cases of contextualized marketing ever. In its native Germany, the sweet herbal liqueur is treated as a traditional after-dinner digestif that’s best served ice cold. The distillers embrace their origins in hunting lodges, and the company founders, the Mast family, were deeply religious. The company logo even stems from the legend of St. Hubertus, the patron saint of hunters, who beheld a cross between the antlers of a stag and converted to Christianity. In Germany, Jäger’s commitment is to good drink and good community.

In America, on the other hand, Jäger is seen as a party drink for college students, and half of the popular recipes involve crushed up candy or energy drinks. This disconnect is almost entirely due to the involvement of Sidney Frank, an importer and entrepreneur with a keen eye for marketing. Utilizing early viral marketing and attractive spokeswomen called “Jägerettes” (pictured at left), Frank took a niche liqueur and facilitated an explosion in Jäger’s popularity in the 1980s. Jäger now sponsors rock and metal concerts and racing events, and it’s a staple among young drinkers. Unsurprisingly, the best known Jäger cocktail is the Jägerbomb, which consists of a shot of Jäger dropped into a Red Bull energy drink. (Ugh, no thank you.) The contrast between the German and American Jäger cultures could not be more stark.

So, needless to say, this spirit has a lot of baggage, making this cocktail a tough sell for older souls like me and my friend group. If I’m making it at a party, I’ll frequently have to use shady “seriously, just trust me” language to get people to sample it, but once they do, the reply is universal: this cocktail is a pleasant surprise. Here’s the recipe:

The Jägerita
– 2 oz Jägermeister
– 1 oz Cointreau
– 3/4 oz lime juice
– 1/2 oz agave nectar (optional)
Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled cocktail glass (ice optional). Convince guests to try it.

The strong herbal taste of the Jäger interplays superbly with the citrus of the lime and Cointreau, and the whole thing is very sweet but not cloyingly so. There’s an almost cola-like flavor here, likely due to the presence of anise and ginger and juniper. It’s a surprising but very pleasing combination if you can persuade people to try it.

Seriously, just try it. Like, trust me. Try it.