MouthLondon - London Student & Youth Magazine
Recipes: London Fog
This is an Earl Grey tea latte that is warm and comforting – perfect for the cold weather. Two parts hot strong tea to one part hot milk and as much vanilla syrup as you like the creamy milk, bergamot, and vanilla come together to make a soothing hot drink for cold weather.
I would like to thank my tasteful and tea-loving friend in Canada who described London Fog so delightfully that I felt it would be a huge shame not to make it. I’ve yet to see this in any tea or coffee shops in our London, but if there are, please let me know! Otherwise, try making it for yourself – it’s easy, and the only trick is to have everything ready. It seems to be a bit of a fuss just for a cuppa, but it is quite delicious – and has a wonderfully evocative name.
Ingredients
- . 2 bags Earl Grey tea
- . 200ml water
- . 100ml milk (preferably full-fat; you can also add a dash of cream if using skinnier milk)
- . 1 – 3 tablespoons vanilla syrup, store bought or home made (see note)
Instructions
- Make the strong tea: get your mug ready and put the teabags in. Boil the water and it pour over, leaving it to steep for 3 - 4 minutes.
- Earl Grey tea tends to become bitter when steeped too long, which is why we’re using extra tea bags for stronger tea.
- While the tea is steeping, boil the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat til hot and steamy, constantly whisking to add air and foam the milk.
- You could also pour the milk into a microwave-safe mug and zap it on high for about 1 minute, stirring vigorously halfway to evenly heat it.
- Take the hot milk over to the tea, which should now be strong enough.
- Add the vanilla syrup to the tea, starting off with 1 tablespoon.
- Pour in the milk. Taste, add more syrup if wanted. Enjoy!
Image courtesy of Pear Nuallak
About the author
I'm a self-conscious dilettante with a degree in History of Art from SOAS and UCL. I've lived in Greater London all my life, interrupted only occasionally by brief trips to Thailand. The result is that I speak Thai with a Croydon accent (and sometimes Croydon with a posh accent, but that's another story). Far from being a charming bilingual intellectual of the world who ably holds forth on every topic imaginable at dinner parties, most of what I actually say in either language is "Hello", "That's a nice painting", and "I'm hungry". My idea of a balanced diet is a bowl of Mama instant noodles in one hand and a chip buttie in the other, but I also don't mind a nice bit of duck confit or gaeng paa gai. I don't go to dinner parties, anyway. I like looking at interesting things. Thai contemporary art, Early Modern English portraiture, and lowbrow art have so far held my attention. I consume vast amounts of art and food, so I thought I would give something back by writing.
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