The following is about another one of our encounters at FOODEX 2025.
There seems to be some kind of controversy, brouhaha, tempest in a teacup, what have you, as to how Earl Grey’s name became associated with Earl Grey tea, so we are not going to waste our readers’ valuable time on such trivia. Suffice it to say that this popular brew owes its status to the inclusion of oil of bergamot—or if you speak the lingo with a Brooklyn accent, “earl of bergamot”—to jazz it up. Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) is a fruit that resembles a small orange. It is widely grown in Calabria, Italy. Its essential oil is prized for a number of reasons, but it is probably best known to the general public as that which makes Earl Grey—that’s the tea, of course, not the guy, who happens to be dead and not likely to benefit from it—what it is.
Returner, presumably named because one is likely to return to the drink from time to time, is an Earl Grey Tea Liqueur, created by renowned bartender Aizu Toshiaki. We tasted it straight and, what might be expected given the fact that it is a liqueur, found it to be sweet with the viscosity of Drambuie. A bit of bergamot comes through, and we picked up on some soft tannins, as well. The level of viscosity gives the drink a smooth mouthfeel. The ABV is 24%. Returner’s promotional literature has a number of serving suggestions for the beverage. We see it more as a postprandial, something to sip after dinner, perhaps with a good cigar, if you are so inclined.
Link: http://returner.jp
Drinking Japan 