Thursday, October 6, 2011

London Fog in NYC

Starbucks had a drink a few years back they called a London Fog.  It was an Early Grey tea with extra bergamont, vanilla and lavender added made latte style.  It was sweet, floral, deep and warming all at the same time.  It reminded you of the chill of London on a a crisp fall morning.  Ah...perfection!


They have since gotten rid of it (as all good hot tea drinks get removed) and replaced it what what they call an Earl Grey Latte (simple as it sounds, Earl Grey with steamed milk...exciting, I know).  It's still tasty, but not the same thing.

I was heart broken and lost without my London Fog, but after 2 years, I have been able to successfully recreate it at home (for the most part).  This has become my afternoon work tea.  It's a little more special than my morning cuppa with its heafty perfume bergamont (achieved by using DOUBLE Bergamont Earl Grey) and soothing lavender, but unlike an herbal concoction, this cup of tea helps me with that afternoon lul by giving me the kick of caffinated black tea and a small sugar rush.

One more quick note - Not everyone is an Earl Grey fan - me included!  That said, the combination of milk and lavender help to mellow the bitterness that can come from Earl Grey and really round out the flavors.

Try it once and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Mackey London Fog
(I love the name too much to give it up, and besides, Starbucks doesn't serve it anymore)

1 teabag Stash Double Bergamont Earl Grey
1 teaspoon Lavender (must be labeled for cooking/tea)
3-5  tablespoons milk (to taste)
sugar (to taste)
Tea Ball or Loose Teabag filter (Telia is a good one)

Open tea bag of Earl Grey and empty into tea ball or loose tea filter.  Add lavender.   Close tea ball or tie off filter.

Fill mug with boiling water.  Add milk and sugar.  For this step it's really to taste - the drink should have latte consistency, nice and milky, so if you added more water, you might need more milk.  The amount of sugar you use is also to your personal taste.  I would say start with what you normally add and plan on adding a little more.  You want the drink a touch sweeter than you are used to.

Since the tea bag contains lavender, you will need to steep it a bit longer than you usually would.  I'm sure I would get raked across the coals by tea aficionados, but I usually leave the tea bag in for most of the time it takes me to drink the cup.  I don't like how Earl Grey gets bitter (the lavender and milk helps to put that off here), so when I start to taste the bitter coming, I remove the tea bag.

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