Our 12 Best Jagermeister Cocktails and Shots

What Is Jägermeister?

Jägermeister is produced and bottled by Mast-Jägermeister AG in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. It is made from a secret recipe of 56 ingredients, including cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, orange peel, and star anise. Some accounts include poppy seeds, licorice, ginseng, and juniper in the ingredients as well, but that's about as much as the distillers tell the public.

Whatever the mixture is, it's macerated for five months in alcohol and water. This concentrate is blended and filtered, then stored in oak barrels for a year. After that time, it is blended with sugar, caramel, and more water and alcohol before it's bottled at 35 percent alcohol by volume (70 proof)

It is likely that the mysterious parts of the process have led to some of the intrigue surrounding the spirit. Despite the rumors, Jägermeister does not include deer blood, opium, or any other nasty ingredient.

The Jägermeister Story

Jägermeister was created by Curt Mast who inherited the family's vinegar factory in Wolfenbüttel, which was established by his father Wilhelm in 1878 (a date the brand uses often). The liqueur was first produced in 1935 and touted as a cure-all medicinal elixir. It is still in the same unmistakable green square bottle as it was then.

The label is inspired by the name; Jägermeister translates from German to mean "Master Hunter." St. Hubertus, whose symbol is the antlered stag, is the patron saint of hunters.

You will also find the German inscription "Das ist des Jägers Ehrenschild, Daß er beschützt und hegt sein Wild, Weidmännisch jagt, wie sich’s gehört, Den Schöpfer im Geschöpfe ehrt." It is from a poem by Oskar von Riesenthal (1830–1898). Roughly translated, it means, “This is the hunters’ honor shield, which he protects and looks after his game, Huntsman hunts, As it should be, the Creator in the creatures honor.”