Irish tea and hot ports offered at the pub "Robbin's Nest" (Omachi, Hirosaki, TEL 090-6450-1730) near JR Hirosaki Station will be sold all year round from March 17th, starting in winter only. It was

"I want to spread pub culture in Hirosaki," said the store owner, Shoichi Narita, who was strongly influenced by Ireland. The Irish Tea and Hot Port were the limited-time menus that were offered from mid-February, when the staff of the store, Kazunori Fujimori, went to Ireland.

According to Mr. Narita, the staff conducts overseas training once a year. From November 5th to December 2nd last year, Mr. Fujimori chose Ireland and went around Ireland, which is about the size of Hokkaido, over a month.

Mr. Fujimori started in Dublin, the capital, and moved around half a clock. Initially, he was hitchhiking, but it was likely to arrive in Dublin earlier, so he took the last 120km on foot. “While traveling for four days, I was invited to my house by a local couple who was worried by the rain while I was getting wet,” said Mr. Fujimori.

The couple who invited Mr. Fujimori to his home provided tea and snacks. “Not only did the body warm, but it also had a gentle taste that touched the hearts of Irish people,” says Fujimori. "Ireland has the highest black tea consumption in the world. Because it is such a country, black tea has always been at home."

Robin's Nest Irish Tea is a reproduction of the tea Fujimori drank in Ireland. The tea leaves were ordered from Ireland, and we tried to reproduce the taste. Hotport is a hot cocktail that he drank in a pub during his stay in Ireland. After returning to Japan, Yumiko Matsui, a cooking researcher living in Ireland, taught me the recipe.

It's been a month since we made the donation, and a part of the sales will be used for this year's overseas training, so people who support us and people who come to listen to Irish will buy it. Mr. Fujimori smiles, "In line with March 17 of St. Patrick's Day, the national day of Ireland, we decided to offer this menu, which was only available in winter, all year round."

The price is 500 yen.