Midori was launched in Japan in 1964 by Suntory as Hermes Melon Liqueur. It took the name Midori, the Japanese word for green, for its 1978 launch in the United States, held at Studio 54 in New York. Suntory Global Spirits owns the brand today.
The flavour comes from melons: Japanese Yubari melons, which look like cantaloupes and are a traditional summer gift in Japan, and musk melons. Yubari melons are grown in volcanic ash soil that keeps the fruit warm as it ripens. In the glass Midori is a vivid, chlorophyll green, and the nose is candied, with ripe cantaloupe and a hint of green apple skin. The taste is clean, concentrated melon at 20 per cent alcohol. Suntory has cut the sugar in the recipe by a fifth, following feedback from bartenders.
The brand lists around forty recipes, among them the Midori Sour, the Melon Ball, the Midori Margarita and a Japanese Gin and Tonic. The Japanese Slipper shakes Midori with Cointreau and lemon juice, and the lemon is what stops the melon tasting heavy. Citrus is the useful partner for Midori in general.