I discovered that Earl Grey tea with milk is called “London Fog” only a few months ago, when my friend Ania from Snowtoseas introduced it to me with that name. I’ve always been an appreciator of tea with milk, but never really delved into exploring the world of tea lattes much deeper. Apparently, I was missing out on a whole world of opportunities, London fog being one of them. After that moment, my tea with milk ritual got much more interesting.

London fog tea latte (serves 1):

• 1 cup Earl Grey tea
• 1 tbsp vanilla syrup
• 50 ml whole milk

Boil the water and brew 1 cup of Earl Grey tea. Now, there are so many Earl Grey teas out there, so just choose your favourite brand. It can be from a teabag, or it can be loose leaf. I went for loose leaf, which I bought when I was in Poland at Christmas. (I wrote a post about some awesome things I got to eat while in Krakow, you should really check it out.)Next, add 1 tbsp of vanilla syrup to your cup and stir it in to properly dissolve it in the tea. This is very important because the vanilla syrup will have the double duty of sweetening the tea and giving the Earl Grey this extra vanilla flavour. Delicious.Lastly, foam the milk and gently pour it over the vanilla infused tea. Take a moment to appreciate the beautiful patterns that the encounter of tea and milk will create (this is why I went for a see-through glass, I couldn’t miss this blissful show).At this point you may as well give it a stir and just combine. Wrap yourself in a blanket, put your feet up, grab the book you’re reading and enjoy this wonderful cozy moment.While doing some research prior to making my tea latte, I discovered that London fog was invented in Vancouver, but in Scotland it curiously goes by the name Vancouver fog. This beverage was invented in 1996 as an alternative to coffee for a pregnant customer, who could not enjoy her usual favourite brew due to her condition (source). Funnily enough, I’ve been drinking tea with milk ever since I was a child, and I remember being teased for this in Poland because tea with milk, bawarka, is considered to be a thing only pregnant women drink. And I’m pretty sure I’ve been told that bawarka was for pregnant women and not for little girls well before 1996. Still, I went on and still whiten my black tea with a drop of milk. These are the real struggles of a tea latte appreciator grown up in a family that puts lemon in their tea.