Skip to content
481 Shares

This quirky cocktail brings together three disparate ingredients; tequila, Chartreuse, and Amer Picon, to create the Jaguar, a drink that hews on the bitter side, with a bit of intrigue from the tequila, and the herbal punch of Chartreuse.

I couldn’t find much intel on the origin of this cocktail*, and how these three ingredients found their way into the same glass. Some information on the internet led me to a Jaquar-named energy drink that had the distinction of being “widely popular and commonly available in many post-Soviet countries.” But since two of the spirits are decidedly French, I decided to give it a go.

Chartreuse was originally a health elixir (in the 1700s), as was Picon (in 1837), so perhaps the connection is that they were the energy drinks of their day? I can’t say this cocktail will cure what ails you, but I can say from experience that it’ll perk you up, as it did for me at the end of a hectic week. So it gets a thumbs up from me.

One caveat is that Amer Picon isn’t easy to get outside of France, but there are several excellent alternatives and my favorite is Bigallet China-China, which is available in the U.S. and elsewhere. But if you are in France, I recommend scouting out a bottle of Sepia Amer. It has a wonderful mix of herbs and has a marvelously rich botanical flavor.

Another swap-out is an amaro that’s not too overwhelmingly bitter, such Cio Ciaro, which tilts toward citrus, as the current incarnation of Amer Picon does. (Check out my post on Amer Picon for more information and some American-made alternatives to Amer Picon.) Another non-aggressive amaro would work too, such as Averna, Ramazzoti, or Nonino.

Since we’re on the subject, I’m frequently asked about substituting ingredients in cocktails. A bartender once told me that there were three basic cocktails, and everything else was a riff off of them. if you think about it, this Jaguar is sort of a reconstructed Manhattan, with tequila swapped out for the whiskey and Chartreuse and whatever amer you use, taking the place of the sweet vermouth. (I even came across a similar cocktail with grapefruit juice in place of the amer/amaro.) To remain loyal to the original, I’d stick with the tequila here – although if you want to make up your own cocktail, rum in its place could make things interesting – and one of the amari mentioned above could fill in for the amer Picon, if you want to personalize it.

Jaguar Cocktail

*The Creation of this cocktail has been attributed to Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli
Traditionally the Jaguar has an orange peel flamed over the top, which is done by holding a lit match between the orange zest and cocktail and squeezing the orange oil through the flame, before it lands on top of the drink. I'm not convinced it does all that much (and also makes the top of the drink a little cloudy, as you can see in the photos), so you can just express a regular orange twist over the top, or drop a cocktail cherry in the glass instead.
The classic Jaguar cocktail uses green Chartreuse but if you want something a little smoother, give it a go with yellow Chartreuse, which is mellower and a bit sweeter than green Chartreuse.
Course Drinks
Servings 1 serving
  • 1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila, (100% agave)
  • 3/4 ounce green Chartreuse, (or yellow)
  • 3/4 ounce Amer Picon, Bigallet China-China, Sepia Amer, or amaro (see headnote)
  • 3 dashes orange bitters
  • orange twist, for garnish
  • Add the tequila, Chartreuse, and whatever amer (or amaro) you are using, and the bitters to a mixing glass.
  • Fill the glass two-thirds with ice and stir briskly for 15 seconds.
  • Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Point the colored side of the orange twist toward the top of the drink and squeeze to express the orange oils in the peel over the top of the drink. Drop the twist into the glass.
481 Shares

13 comments

    • Steve

    David
    Thank you for your great information.
    ?- We have a wedding invitation in Paris in June of this year. Do you see things opening up in the city enough to make the trip worthwhile? We would stay 5-6 weeks.
    Thank you
    Steve W

      • Val d’Or

      I live in Paris. Nothing is going to be happening (bars, restaurants, etc.) in June, let alone international travel. The wedding will be postponed most likely. This isn’t to be callous. My wedding is in August and we’re still concerned about that.

        • Steve

        Thank you for taking the time to respond.

    • robert

    hey david. the jaguar cocktail was first mixed by a gentlman named tom in boston, who tended bar at the eastern standard in boston.

    here’s a link:
    http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2007/08/31/the-jaguar/

    it’s a great drink in an underserved category; we need more spirit forward tequila cocktails.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks Robert, I’d done a little digging and found one reference to it being in an old cocktail manual but when I went to find that again, I couldn’t. A few others pointed to Tom as well so I added him in as the creator.

    • teri

    Thank you David!
    I had just purchased my first ever Chartreuse (green), having read its fascinating history.
    What a coincidence that today’s post was for a cocktail that included Chartreuse.
    Friday evening arrived, and to my dismay I discovered that I had no Tequila! Determined to try out the Chartreuse, I soldiered on and made do with Pisco (what would you have done?).
    I thought my substitution might turn into a dismal failure – instead it was a delightful medley of flavors. Oh, and that Chartreuse – just lovely!

    • Diarmuid

    From your list of substitutes I only had Amaro Averna, but I’m happy to confirm it makes a very, very good substitute and a very tasty cocktail.

    I could see the Amaro/Chartreuse pairing working with almost any base spirit – your rum suggestions sounds good, and equally a good gin or even an Irish whiskey could be good matches.

    Good job we all have nothing but time to experiment these days. Sláinte!

    • Sabrina

    thank you – love a new set of cocktail flavors (new to me) and good to know about Bigallet China-China as a substitute if outside France, also like that it is decidedly not sweet!

    • Gina Hemmings

    I got a bottle of Green Chartreuse from my husband for Christmas and when I googled Amer Picon I learned their is a small batch distiller down the road from me in Golden, CO who makes a version of this. I will definitely be trying some of their spirts!
    https://goldenmoondistillery.square.site/liqueurs

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I mentioned them in Drinking French (and at the post on Amer Picon here on the blog) and if you live down the road, it’s easy to get. However America has admittedly wacky liquor shipping laws so it’s hard to ship things state-to-state.

    • Dee

    Hello David,
    Just to tell you I gave your ‘Drinking French’ book to all my housebound friends and my son for Christmas and EVERYBODY loved it. Best gift ever.
    Just what people needed in these vexing times. Might not ‘fix’ or change a thing, but it still brings a bit of hope and happiness. And everyone was sooo tired of cooking and baking at home that mixing a drink was such a lovely fun idea.
    Thanks, Dee

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      So happy you like the book and gave it to your friends. Yes, it’s a particularly challenging time and nice to share a drink with friends…and fun to take a break from cooking and baking (and dishes!)
      ;)

    • Laurie L

    Hi David,

    Please provide metric measurements for this recipe.

    Thanks

A

Get David's newsletter sent right to your Inbox!

15987

Sign up for my newsletter and get my FREE guidebook to the best bakeries and pastry shops in Paris...