10 Cocktails to Make with Yellow Chartreuse

If there’s any liqueur that inspires more intrigue than Green Chartreuse, it may just be its yellow counterpart. While the former stars in classics like the Last Word and Bijou, Yellow Chartreuse has received less attention throughout the herbal liqueur’s centuries-long history. However, this milder and sweeter offering presents a unique charm of its own, and has earned its place in some of history’s great cocktails. 

The origins of Chartreuse date to 1605, when the Duke and Marshal of King Henry IV, François-Annibal d’Estrées, found a recipe for a health elixir that he gifted to monks of the Carthusian Order in Voiron, France. The original formula was gradually altered over the next century, and the recipe for Green Chartreuse (Chartreuse Verte) that reportedly remains in use today was codified in 1764. In 1838, a monk named Brother Colomban Mure-Ravaux experimented with a different blend that, two years later, led to the release of Yellow Chartreuse (Chartreuse Jaune)—a milder and lower-proof version of the liqueur. 

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To make Chartreuse, monks of the Carthusian order macerate a blend of more than 130 botanicals (herbs, spices, roots, barks, and flowers) in either a sugar-beet spirit base (for Green Chartreuse) or a grape spirit base (for Yellow Chartreuse), before aging it in charred French oak barrels. Both bottlings eschew artificial coloring and get their vivid hues from natural sources: chlorophyll for the green variety and saffron for the yellow. To this day, only two monks, along with the father of the order, are entrusted with the secret recipes for Chartreuse. A company called Chartreuse Diffusion was created in 1970 to handle operations like bottling, advertising, and sales. 

While both Green and Yellow Chartreuse are very herbaceous, the yellow version has a softer, sweeter profile and shows notes of honey, anise, and saffron. At 43% ABV, it is also lower in alcohol than Green Chartreuse, which has a 55% ABV. 

If sipped solo, Yellow Chartreuse is best enjoyed chilled. Unlike many other liqueurs and distilled spirits, Yellow Chartreuse also benefits from aging at room temperature, as its sugar mellows and more nuanced botanical flavors begin to emerge and develop. 

When you’re using it in cocktails, you may find that Yellow Chartreuse is slightly more approachable than its supercharged sibling. Like the green version, Yellow Chartreuse often stars in Last Word variations like the Naked & Famous, but its herbal character and honeyed notes play well in a wide range of cocktails. 

If you’re lucky enough to have a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse on hand, here are 10 of the best cocktail recipes to help put it to use.