HomeWHATWhat Is Genepy

What Is Genepy

Genepi or genepy, we encounter it mainly in the form of a liqueur, as a digestive or in cocktails. But do you know all the secrets of this plant? Because yes, before being a liqueur with floral and herbaceous aromas, genepi is a wild plant from the Alps, endowed with many virtues. Focus on its specificities and its use.

The history of genepi

Genepi is a plant of the artemisia family that grows in the Alps between 1500 and 3000 meters above sea level. Historically, it was used by mountain people in the form of herbal teas to induce sweating during acute illnesses.

Genepi is known for its aromatic and medicinal properties. A plant whose essential oils evoke aromas that are both honeyed and herbaceous, it is also still considered by many alpine guides as a remedy against the failures that hikers may encounter. It has energizing, tonic, stimulating and stomatic properties.

The peak of its flowering is usually at the beginning of July. Genepi is a protected plant, the picking of which is regulated according to the departments and the massifs. Maison Meunier has chosen to create its own cultivation of genepi in Savoie, in order to control the quality of its supply of plants, and to preserve the Alpine massifs.

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The different varieties of genepi

There are five different varieties of genepi, two of which are used at the Meunier distillery to make our plant distillates.

The yellow genepi or Artemisia Umberlliformis

This genepi is the variety that pickers encounter most frequently. On cultivated plants, the flowering branches are counted by several dozen. It flourishes from 1500 meters above sea level. When flowering, the branch is pale green in color and the yellow flowers adorn the stems all the way up. This variety offers very balanced aromas.

Black genepi or Artemisia Genipi

This rarer genepi grows at higher altitudes, making it more difficult to cultivate. Its flowers are much less numerous, with 2 to 5 flowering sprigs per plan. The flower stalk is thick and shorter, purplish/black in colour. The yellow flower heads are clustered at the top of the stem and surrounded by blackish bracts. This variety offers sharper, more powerful aromas.

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