Human Error – Engel Bergamotte
It took a while to find a reason to us up a whole bottle of prosecco for some sparkling wine drinks. This is why, the bergamot eau de vie from the Naturbrennerei Engel is the last citrus eau de vie of this little series I am presenting to you.
For his bergamot eau de vie, Manuel uses bergamots from Calabria. The citrus fruit are organically certified. In the end, Manuel bottles the spirit at the usual 42 % ABV. At the Craft Spirit Awards in Berlin in 2025 he received a bronze medal for the bergamot eau de vie.
Extremely powerful
To be honest, I was overwhelmed by the intensity of the flavour when trying the bergamot eau de vie for the first time. It took some time for the spirit in the opened bottle as well as in the glass to settle down a bit. Yet, if you find your way past those intense bergamot and Earl Grey tea flavours, you are rewarded by vanilla, lemon oil as well as an interesting earthy coriander seed notes.
Just an honest mistake
For a drink using the bergamot eau de vie – in moderation – I went for a Negroni Sbagliato. A barspoon of the spirit really is enough to bring those beautiful Earl Grey flavours into this bitter aperitif. What is key here is to use an honest prosecco. I went for the Drusian Spumante Brutp>
1 Bsp. Engel Bergamot Eau de Vie
3 cl Mancino Sweet Vermouth
Built – Double Old-Fashioned glass over ice cubes – top off – gently stir;
Garnish: Orange Wedge;
Song: We Were Promised Jetpacks – Human Error;
Even with just a barspoon, the bergamot eau de vie is clearly noticeable in the final cocktail. Apart from that, you get the usually combination of red bitter flavour with sweet vermouth and some bubbles. There has been said enough about the original drink already. Yet, the additional layer of citrus flavour just works excellent here.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. I received the eau de vie for free from Engel Naturbrenneri.
