of course, you must know that people in the benelux love their beer. in fact belgium could be called the country of beer so many styles, colors, and tastes are produced in that country.

and so to push beer marketing a step further, some enterprising fella launched the iki beer, loosely marketed as a japanese but made here in belgium. it is special in that it contains, as its website claims: "green tea, barley malt, hop and yeast plus some special ingredients: sencha green tea and the japanese fruit yuzu". yes, you read that right: green tea.

i did not try it as i was in transit and could not carry liquid but the website claims that "the freshness of its flavor along with the lower bitterness level of iki beer, create a unique balance that makes it stand out from the mainstream beers".

ok, they got me. now i regret not having tasted it, at least in the airport...

i wonder where the european fascination with all things asian comes from?

now that hong kong will become asian "wine hubs", when will someone enterprising launch the 1st ever hong kong wine?

(actually, i heard it is in the pipeline and the 1st bottling is to happen in november. more info on those pages soon.