A couple years ago I had written a blog post that, to my surprise, became one of our most visited posts of all time. I am not sure if it’s because people wanted to ‘unlock the secrets’ of a london fog latte, or that they were just getting fed up with the high priced, artificial drinks being passed off as real tea lattes. Whatever the reason, since then I have personally done hundreds of these extremely popular drinks at our tea shop here in Toronto and thought I would share a few of my methods of preparing this tea latte. Keep in mind that everyone may prepare them a little differently, but this is my preference and it seems that our customers really enjoy it too.
It’s exciting to see that larger tea houses are now promoting the benefits of tea and showcasing some creative infusions including tea lattes and Herbal Infusions. I am not so excited however that they cost so much compared to what it would cost to do it at home. The great news is that all it takes is a few minutes to prepare.
This version of the London Fog Latte (aka Earl Grey Vanilla Misto) is more like a hybrid of the Seattle Fog since we use a tea concentrate derived from steeping loose leaf tea in a small amount of water.
Oh and since we’re not a fan of the sugary syrups we scrapped the vanilla syrup and replaced it with organic vanilla bean cane sugar. The original recipe that I had posted also included a dash of vanilla extract- a step that I normally don’t do, but if you want an even more creamy vanilla taste it definitely helps!
Here is a list of what you will need:
- Loose Leaf Tea – Creme de Earl Grey (its our version of Earl Grey but along with Bergamot contains a smooth vanilla finish) or Tulsi Herbal Chai (A nice Rooibos based caffeine free chai alternative). I find both to be not as overpowering as straight Earl Grey and have a few more layers of complexity to them.
- tea infuser/pot – We are using a tea steeper that we also sell here at our store in downtown Toronto. Very handy if you want to save excess waste associated with tea filters.
- whisk (I found one at my local dollar store that works surprisingly well). When we do it here in the shop I actually use a frothing machine as it whips and heats at the same time.
- Honey or Agave (to sweeten the infusion)
- 1 cup Milk (I normally use Almond or Vanilla Soy Milk. Not a big cow’s milk fan but use whatever you prefer!)
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
For a garnish I like to add the following:
- 1 Honey Stick
- Vanilla Cane Sugar
First things first- get that water to a rolling boil. Once its boiling add the loose leaf tea to your teapot and allow it to steep for 3-5 minutes. Take 1 cup of milk and heat it (stove top or microwave). In my example I am using the frother at the shop, but I also included a picture of a simple whisk from the dollar store. If using a hand whisk, whisk until you get plenty of bubbles. Take your steeped tea and pour it into your mugs (I shoot for about half way- this is my preferred ratio of milk to tea!) followed by the steamed milk. Scoop some extra milk foam on top and garnish with half a honey stick (1 stick = 1 tsp) and vanilla cane sugar (I’m almost neurotic about putting the honey on first before the cane sugar as I find the milk froth stays longer if you put a thin layer of honey on top).
Serves 2. About 100 calories each
Share your comments with us and let us know how it turned out , or if you have tried this with other types of tea. I have had it with peppermint and also substituted almond extract (the nutty-ness of the almond extract pairs well with Earl Grey)
