{"id":6395,"date":"2025-11-12T14:49:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/?p=6395"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:54:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:54:38","slug":"the-bergamot-the-fragrant-treasure-of-calabria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/the-bergamot-the-fragrant-treasure-of-calabria\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The Bergamot, the Fragrant Treasure of Calabria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This unique citrus fruit, whose scent everyone knows but which few have ever seen, grows in Calabria.<br data-start=\"156\" data-end=\"159\" \/>Along a narrow coastal strip about a hundred kilometers long, bordering the Ionian Sea and reaching up to around 300 meters above sea level, <strong>95% of the world\u2019s bergamot production is harvested.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"356\" data-end=\"701\">As in all citrus orchards, the air is filled with fragrance during the blooming season \u2014 but with bergamot, the magic continues even at harvest time.<br data-start=\"505\" data-end=\"508\" \/>The fruit releases tiny particles of essential oil that perfume the atmosphere and lift people\u2019s spirits: this precious essence actually stimulates the production of the \u201c<strong>happiness hormones<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"703\" data-end=\"949\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Even if you\u2019ve never seen or touched a bergamot, many of us have already tasted it \u2014 perhaps without realizing \u2014 in a cup of <strong>Earl Grey tea<\/strong>.<br data-start=\"842\" data-end=\"845\" \/>But how did this Mediterranean fruit become linked to a tea that comes from the other side of the world?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Legend has it<\/strong> that an English ship belonging to Sir Grey, returning from India with a cargo of tea, stopped in Calabria to take on board flasks of bergamot essential oil destined for the perfume trade.<br data-start=\"205\" data-end=\"208\" \/>While crossing the English Channel, the ship was caught in a storm: the flasks shattered, and the oil spilled into the hold, soaking several sacks of tea.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"366\" data-end=\"667\">Convinced that part of the cargo was ruined, the crew nevertheless decided to taste the \u201ccontaminated\u201d tea.<br data-start=\"473\" data-end=\"476\" \/>The result was so delightful that it gave birth to the legendary blend we still enjoy today \u2014 and with every sip of Earl Grey, <strong>a little piece of Calabria <\/strong>travels all the way to our teacups.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"669\" data-end=\"829\">In the photo above, you can see bergamot peels drying.<br data-start=\"723\" data-end=\"726\" \/>They will later be shipped to major tea houses, some of which still use the natural, organic product.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"831\" data-end=\"1023\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Another time, I\u2019ll tell you how bergamot found its way into <strong>eau de Cologne<\/strong>, its connection with the famous <strong>Caf\u00e9 Procope in Paris<\/strong>, and why it grows so beautifully in this blessed land of <strong>southern Italy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This unique citrus fruit, whose scent everyone knows but which  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[413],"tags":[558,559,560,561,522,523,524,525,526,427],"class_list":["post-6395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en","tag-bergamot","tag-calabriansea","tag-tea","tag-earl-grey-en","tag-bain-de-foret-en","tag-chartreuse-en","tag-velo-en","tag-randonnee-en","tag-serra-san-bruno-en","tag-calabria-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6395"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6396,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6395\/revisions\/6396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caminiatravel.com\/caminiatravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}