I’m a big tea drinker. However, I tend to opt for plainer ones such as earl grey, english breakfast, or green teas. With that being said, when I feel like I want something a bit fancier, I opt to make myself a london fog.
A london fog is basically just a latte made with earl grey tea instead of espresso. I find it’s a very comforting drink for rainy days and has just enough caffeine to pick me up when I need it.
Usually, a london fog is sweetened with vanilla syrup but I opt to use my tried and true agave syrup. Agave is great because unlike honey (which lots of people usually use interchangeably), agave dissolves in both cold and hot liquids. Alternatively, you can make your own vanilla syrup at home or buy a bottle from the grocery store. You can also use regular granulated sugar to sweeten the drink.
The nice thing about most latte-styled drinks is that they are very easy to play around with and you can use any type of milk or milk alternative you like. My favourite milk alternative is oat milk, but it doesn’t froth as easily as cows milks. You can also control your milk to tea ratio if you prefer a stronger drink.
Lastly, its extremely common to add lavender into a london fog. Most people buy a tin of dried lavender and steep a pinch of it into the hot water along with the tea. I personally love to add a drop of culinary lavender oil to my london fog to give it a little pizzazz. You can find food grade dried lavender buds and oil at most gourmet stores. I got my lavender oil from a lavender farm in the summer but it’s not hard to find in stores or online.
Here’s the recipe!
London Fog Latte
Ingredients
- 1-2 earl grey tea bags
- pinch of dried lavender buds or lavender culinary oil food grade
- 1/2 cup milk dairy or non-dairy
- agave, vanilla syrup or granulated sugar to taste
Instructions
- In a large mug, steep the tea bags into 3/4 cup hot water for five minutes or until strong. If using lavender buds, steep them in the water along with the tea bags. If opting for culinary oil, wait for the tea to steep before adding in a drop.
- While the tea is steeping, steam the milk (see below note). The milk should come out frothy and hot. If using a thermometer it should read about 160-180 °F.
- Add in your sweetener of choice to the steeped tea. Pour the steamed and frothy milk over top and enjoy!
Notes
- I use the steam setting on my espresso machine to froth/steam my milk. An electric frother would work as well, such as a Nespresso frother which heats up the milk and steams it. A handheld frother works too but you would need to heat the milk over the stove or in the microwave before using it.
- You can totally skip the frothing step if you don’t have the equipment and opt to just use hot milk.
- Too much lavender oil will leave your drink tasting soapy. Use it sparingly and only add in one drop.
