The presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is bittersweet, strange, and even a little depressing, especially if you’re a liberal.
On the one hand, most It was pointless to go back and forth between the two candidates.: Harris declined to elaborate on many of her proposals, taking a variety of positions. Meanwhile, Trump continues to pump ideas into the ether with varying degrees of severity. Defenders of both candidates have sometimes argued that there is no need to worry because their terrible ideas will not be implemented. The specifics of how he will actually govern remain a mystery.
On the other hand, in this election, the two camps seem to diverge every time an issue is raised. Converging on a new policy agreementIt is a series of neo-populist, neo-mercantilist ideas and agenda items. There are many differences between Trump and Harris, but they and their party are both skeptical of global trade and immigration and intent on using the power of government to prop up (or destroy) industries. and they have both tempted with policy that make a lot of noise Something like price controls could ruin an industry, or at least cause serious headaches for consumers.
In other words, on any given day, the race is between no ideas and terrible ideas. It’s enough to make you drink. If you think you might get a headache, you can enjoy it the night before.
Looking for something to drink? Based on a secret recipe, we will recommend an appropriate sip for each topic of Green Chartreuse, a high-alcohol, slightly sweet herbal liqueur. production By the capitalist wine monks of France.
Like this election, it’s bittersweet, mysterious, and a little strange. Unlike this election, there is a strange pleasure whether you drink it alone or mixed.
And finding a bottle means navigating high prices, top-down government control, and desperate supply shortages so you can prepare for what comes after either Trump or Harris is elected president.
The Chartreuse shortage is the result of a decision on the part of the Carthusian monks who produce it to scale back production in order to focus more on their religious duties. You can’t really blame them. It is their product and their life. They owe no one any labor.
Moreover, it does not mean that production will be stopped completely. As classic cocktails utilizing Chartreuse become more popular, we will not continue to scale up to meet growing demand.
What happens if there is high demand for your product but not enough supply to meet it? Typically, this supply/demand mismatch is resolved through increased prices, which serve as a signal of the value and scarcity of the product. Chartreuse shouldn’t disappear from bar or liquor store shelves, but it may be a little more expensive.
Depending on where you live, that could happen. In states that do not control alcohol prices, Chartreuse prices soared when news broke that the monks had decided to limit production. Even before, Chartreuse was already somewhat expensive, typically costing around $60 a bottle. But when it became clear that supply would be limited, prices soared, in some cases well over $100.
But prices have dropped recently, at least in some stores. If you live in a state where liquor stores set their own prices, you can find a bottle for around $80 or less. I recently purchased two at a well-stocked store just a few miles north of Boston, MA, for $75 each. It’s a little more expensive than it used to be, and maybe a little harder to find. But that is the price we pay for monks who want to pray.
However, if you live in a state where alcohol is distributed by a single state-run entity and retail prices are strictly enforced, the story is different. You won’t find a bottle of Chartreuse selling for $100 in the so-called “controlled states.” But you might not find it at all. Because state-run distribution schemes and mandatory retail prices have made buying a bottle a downright irritant.
These control states essentially say that if you want to pay more for Chartreuse, you can’t. You can scour state inventory online to stock up on bottles the moment they become available. Or you may discover the bottle by chance or through a friend who works at the store. However, the price signals that provide the market with information to balance supply and demand have been removed.
In fact, Chartreuse has become so hard to find in some places that cocktail enthusiasts go. alternative planLike Genepy and Strega, it replaces the green spirit created by monks. This is not a bad bottle of liquor, but it lacks the special characteristics of Chartreuse, its earthy notes, herbal complexity and alcohol intensity that make Chartreuse a unique and valuable element in mixed drinks.
This doesn’t just affect home cocktail connoisseurs who buy bottles to stock their home bars. In 2023, I went to a small, quiet bar in Raleigh, North Carolina, and spoke to a bartender who told me that some bars had had to remove the Chartreuse drink from their menus because they couldn’t secure a steady supply due to state allocations. .
In other words, price controls are making cocktails worse. There is a lesson here for both Harris and Trump about the futility of top-down mandates and the consumer-unfriendly frustrations of central planning. I don’t expect either of them to learn this.
So we’ll literally give the last word to the liquor itself with the most famous Chartreuse cocktail – a fascinating yet easy-to-make mixture of equal parts known as The Last Word.
last words
- ¼ ounce green chartreuse
- 3/4 ounce Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
- 3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3/4 ounce gin
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into a coupe glass.
For a more earthy, unfamiliar version of gin, try substituting mezcal, a Mexican agave spirit that can be considered tequila’s smoky cousin.
Either way, you’ll enjoy a drink built on rich international trade and cross-border culinary combinations. The Last Word is a news break and a deliciously liquid rebuttal to the doom and gloom consensus about this presidential election.
