Green Chartreuse Is The Herbal Upgrade Your Hot Chocolate Needs

You don't need much to perk up your next cup of warm comfort. Enter green Chartreuse, the liqueur that can turn a regular mug of hot chocolate into a minty, refreshing treat for mature palates. It's a simple add-in that packs a kick, and you don't need to be a professional barkeep to get started. 

Green Chartreuse imparts cooling peppermint notes into your steaming, frothy beverages and complements not only the temperature of your drink but the added spices that you sprinkle into your favorite hot chocolate recipes. Ginger, cinnamon, and cardamon all play well with the boozy inclusion, and when topped with a dollop of homemade honey whipped cream, this is a beverage that will have you reaching for seconds. The richer the better when it comes to a decadent winter warmer, so pull out all the stops with shavings of dark chocolate to garnish your drink. You may be reminded of the last time you snacked on chocolate-covered mint cookies after a meal or housed chocolate-dipped mints in a movie theater.

Start with a splash of the colorful liqueur into your next mug of ginger hot chocolate or hot chocolate chai and adjust to taste. While you can always add more booze, it can be a difficult recovery to try to backpedal once the liquid has been added to your drink. Also known as Verte Chaud in the après-ski communities, this cocktail needn't be reserved for snowy slopes and deserves to be slid across your home bar. 

Though you may think adding a green liqueur will change the appearance of your hot chocolate, the difference in color will be slight, but the taste will be noticeable. Green Chartreuse packs a mysterious concoction originally made by monks who plucked over 100 herbs and spices from the French Alps and surrounding areas. Plus, with rumored health benefits — original recipes were thought to improve immunity and digestion — your next cup of hot chocolate will score on all the charts. Sweeten your hot chocolate with your choice of sweetener and add a pinch of sea salt to turn up all the dials of taste. Once you've tried your first sip of the simple libation, this easy bevy will make frequent appearances during the colder months.