Elements: Chareau Aloe Liqueur

The garden’s abundance has long been put to use in liqueurs, making them evocative of their places of origin, from the vibrant citrus of southern Italy to the herbaceous botanicals of the Alps. Of course, the history of all alcohol is agricultural, but that doesn’t mean every field has been tilled, so to speak. There’s still space to reap exciting rewards—especially when a novel product hits the scene based on the same fundamental tenets.

“It’s fresh and vegetal from the aloe, and brings a cooling element to drinks.” —Amy Racine

When Kurt Charron created Chareau—a portmanteau of great-grandparents Arthur Emile Charron and Florence Marie Favreau—he aimed to create a liqueur representative of California’s farm-to-table culinary movement, along with the state’s agricultural bounty. The result, an aloe liqueur, has a complexity that belies its pared-down ingredient list: unaged grape eau de vie, aloe vera, cucumber, lemon peel, muskmelon, spearmint, raw cane sugar, and water. “Chareau is a very unique spirit to work with—the flavor and texture are unlike anything else on the bar,” says New York beverage director Amy Racine. “It’s fresh and vegetal from the aloe, and brings a cooling element to drinks.”

At 50 proof, Chareau is versatile as a cocktail modifier and also shines as the star ingredient. “It’s refreshing and elegant, it’s very balanced, and it plays well with most other flavors,” says Rafa García Febles, beverage director with the Marcus Samuelsson Group in New York. While García Febles loves that the liqueur incorporates flavors not otherwise readily found behind the bar, he also appreciates what he calls its populist characteristics. “Cucumber and mint have to be among the most popular flavors for bar-goers right now.”

For Pittsburgh bartender Lissa Brennan it’s the way Chareau’s myriad flavors merge that makes it a go-to behind the bar. “I love that each of the ingredients sings loud and clear on its own, then comes together with the others in perfect harmony,” she says. “Everything is present, and nothing is overwhelming.”

True to its agricultural origins, Chareau’s ingredients are sourced from family farms and are largely organic. For García Febles, that’s a core part of its appeal. “I love the ethos it embodies—a thoughtful, delicious combination of locally sourced botanicals, presented simply but smartly,” he says. In his Veracruz, agave and lime juice receive a dose of crisp complexity from white wine, with Chareau taming the spicy kick of a cayenne tincture. “Think of a spicy spa water Margarita, with a cooling sip of aloe, mint, and cucumber, and a kick in the back from red pepper and agave,” García Febles says. “It’s refreshing and boozy in familiar ways, but with something unexpected and unusual.”

Refreshing and familiar, yet unexpected and unusual. Sounds a lot like Chareau itself.