“What the heck is a London Fog latte?” our customers at our little tea room in Colombo would ask, bemused at the idea!
”Just try it” I would simply reply with a smile!
As I served the London Fog to their table, in a pretty vintage English tea cup, they would take one look and say “ah, I get it”!!!
One sip and ALL our customers were hooked!
So what is a LONDON FOG latte?
It’s essentially a tea latte made with Earl Grey tea, BUT, it’s so much more than 'just' an Earl grey latte. And when made properly it resembles the color of a typical dull foggy London morning!
But actually it's origins trace back to Canada, where history is still indecisive as to who actually invented this blissful tea beverage. Clearly though, who ever they were they knew only too well what a dull foggy day in London was like, and the comfort a 'Londoner' would find in sitting back to sip on this warm milky but uplifting floral tea beverage on such a day!
But there is NOTHING dull about a London Fog latte, and you can trust all our O&M fans
"It not like drinking Earl Grey tea, if you don't like Earl Grey i guarantee you'll still like this. And it only gets better using a lavender earl grey tea!
It gives you the uplifting feeling of drinking Earl Grey tea, with its delicate and sweet floral like citrus undertones, sitting on top a warm milky sweet latte froth. It makes you really happy on a cellular level, it makes you feel like accomplished!
And better still when you make it with Lavender Earl Grey it makes you want to put your PJ's on and snuggle up!
How to choose your London Fog tea
The first lesson in making a really good London Fog is the quality of BOTH the Earl grey tea and the raw bees honey
And this is vital because a London Fog relies on that uniquely floral undertone in the Earl Grey (that actually comes from the citrus like Bergamot) and also all those unique floral tones in the bee’s honey. And those tones in the honey should and will change with every batch (that’s how you know it’s good honey).
Our customers loved this about our Fog because its really hard to get a good raw bees honey, so when you manage to source one your customers notice and they are really happy! I recommend visiting your local farmers market to find a good ‘floral’ raw bee’s honey, and if you can splurge out on this ingredient!
At Owl and Monkey we designed our Lavender Hill Earl Grey Tea especially with London Fogs in mind, so you can be sure to get a really great balance of Bergamot, English Lavender & Vanilla to blend perfectly with with raw honey and whole milk
How to make the perfect London Fog
Firstly please don’t try to make a London Fog Latte with Earl Grey Tea made in a tea pot, it needs to be made on the stove top.
The reason why? because a) you need all the depths of flavour to come out as the tea brews, and b) you also need the tea leaves to flavour the milk too!
To make London Fog for one person here’s the ‘how to‘
Add 200ml of water to a saucepan with 2-3 heaped teaspoons of lavender earl grey tea leaves
place on a medium heat and brew for 4-5 mins (until the bergamot and lavender scent is dominant)
Add 100-150ml of whole milk (or plant based alternative) and lower the heat, simmering for a further 2-3 mins
Remove from the heat and stir in 1-2tsp of raw bees honey (never cook raw honey)
Strain the tea and froth lightly to create a creamy bubbly texture
Pour into your chosen glass and top with some freshly frothed plain milk, then sprinkle with dried flower petals before sitting back and drinking!
Owl and Monkey recommends pairing this gorgeously Tea latte with some rich buttery home baked Scottish Shortbread
I would love to try this, looks delicious 😍