Bergamot is expanding beyond Earl Grey tea

Bergamot is a citrus fruit that grows in southern Italy and resembles a makrut lime, with similar bumps but a completely different flavor profile. It’s known for giving Earl Grey tea its distinctive flavor and aroma, but it’s now being used in a number of applications on American menus, from baking to cocktail bitters.

The fruit is too sour to be consumed raw but bergamot zest is being used in any number of baked goods, and being swapped in for other citrus to provide an innovative kick in cocktails and mocktails.

It’s also being used to infuse different spirits, giving bars and restaurants a distinctive house-made addition to their drinks.

Market research firm Datassential reports that bergamot is found on 1.4% of U.S. menus, up 15% over the past four years.

Click through the gallery for more on this week’s Flavor of the Week and see how one restaurant is using bergamot on its menu.