The term Jägermeister was introduced in Germany in 1934 in the new Reichsjagdgesetz (Imperial Hunting Laws). The term was applied to senior foresters and gamekeepers in the German civil service. Thus, when the liquor was introduced in 1935, the name was already familiar to Germans. Curt Mast, the original distiller of Jägermeister, was an enthusiastic hunter.Translated literally, Jägermeister means "hunt-master", combining Jäger (hunter) and Meister (master, in the sense of an accomplished professional). A possible free translation might be gamekeeper.
Jägermeister was originally developed as a digestif and as a cough remedy. In Germany, it may be humorously referred to as Leberkleister (“liver glue”). The humor plays upon the fact that Leberkleister rhymes with Jägermeister. A satirical advertisement which mocks Jägermeister as Leberkleister appeared on the back cover of issue number 70 of the German edition of Mad magazine in February, 1975, under the rubric “Advertisements we’d like to see.”
The Jägermeister logo, which shows the head of a reindeer with a glowing Christian cross between its antlers, is a reference to the stories of Saint Hubertus and Saint Eustace, patron saints of hunters.
Jägermeister is a type of liqueur called Kräuterlikör (herbal liqueur). It is similar to other central European liqueurs, such as Gammel Dansk from Denmark, Unicum from Hungary, Becherovka from the Czech Republic and Pelinkovac from Croatia. In contrast to those beverages, Jägermeister has a sweeter taste.
Jägermeister’s ingredients include 56 herbs, fruits, roots and spices including citrus peel, licorice, anise, poppy seeds, saffron, ginger, juniper berries and ginseng.These ingredients are ground, then steeped in water and alcohol for 2–3 days. Afterwards, this mixture is filtered and stored in oak barrels for about a year. When a year has passed, the liqueur is filtered again, then mixed with sugar, caramel, alcohol and water. It is filtered one last time and then bottled.
The producer recommends that Jägermeister be kept on ice and served cold and suggests that it be kept in a freezer at −18 °C (−0 °F) or on tap between −15 °C (5 °F) and −11 °C (12 °F).
Contrary to an urban legend, Jägermeister does not contain deer or elk blood.