London Fog Tea Latte (Now called Earl Grey Latte)

I had a 15 hour day yesterday and I am egg-zausted! I wanted to treat myself to something special this morning, and ever since chrine posted about her Earl Grey Latte I have wanted to try one!!! I just ran out to pick one of these up at Starbucks.

The first sip was a bit strange, but once my brain registered that I wasn’t drinking a coffee based latte from the white cup with the mermaid, I started to really get into it! The lavender is pronounced (yes!) and the foamy warm milky goodness and syrup make up for any deficiencies in the Tazo Earl Grey. It’s a bit perfumey but in a good way. I got the Tall size, and I can’t imagine getting anything bigger because it’s very rich. I love it! I am surprised/thrilled that Starbucks offers such an unusual drink!

So if I wanted to make this at home I would brew, say, 8 oz of Earl Grey tea and add about 4 oz warm milk? I don’t have vanilla syrup – would some simple syrup and a little of my home made vanilla extract work you think?

EDIT: I found a recipe for home made vanilla syrup that I’m going to try, and I thought I’d post it here for posterity:

http://breweddaily.com/2008/11/simple-vanilla-syrup-for-coffee/

After so long, I finally got to have one of these as a treat. I was excited and ordered it expecting to find a good (not great) earl grey with steamed milk.

It was terrible. It was like the service didn’t even know how to prepare it. They kept the tea bag in the cup while preparing it and they didn’t give it enough time to steep before mixing in the steamed milk. Instead they poured in the steamed milk right away. When I got it cooled down enough so that I could drink it, all it tasted like was sweet milky paper with a hint of bad bergamot.

I really need to find a good steamer/frother of my own so that I can just have my own tea lattes when I want them. There was no reason for them not to steep the tea for three or four minutes and then take the bag out before making the rest of the drink. There was nobody there but our small group.

Had this without the syrup today (so I guess it’s basically just earl grey tea & skim milk)… this is my chai alternative for Fridays when I feel like something less spicy. Unfortunately, I got stuck in traffic on my way to work and wasn’t able to remove the tea bag so it oversteeped by a good 10 minutes but I just added a lot of extra hot water and it turned out okay.

I really like the Tazo black teas, and steamed milk is so much better than just adding my own boring milk. Without the over-steeping, it woud’ve been perfect! I like it better with the syrup, but I can’t taste anything with this cold anyway so I didn’t want the extra calories.

The main problem with Starbucks’ Earl Grey Tea Latte is that, when allowed to brew for a few minutes (which is necessary if you want that Earl Grey flavor), it becomes bitter. You really do need to sweeten this one. I use more sweetener in this than I do in anything else. I don’t even want to tell you how many packets of stevia and Splenda I put in here, because you will laugh at me. But once it’s adequately sweetened, it’s a real treat, and you can definitely taste the lavender and bergamot. I get this on my way to work in the morning and I have it with a few of Starbucks’ mini vanilla bean scones. Dipping the scones in the tea is the way to go.

Overall, not what I’d call a high-quality tea experience, but it’s tasty and easy, and a great way to start the day at work.

went to coffee with a friend. this is my go-to for when I go out. pretty decent if you ask me^.^

My favourite thing to get on a rainy day. So lovely and fragrant!

Tastes like fruit loops.

I have no idea how to really describe this, except that I loooooooooooove it. I’m a huge fan of Earl Grey teas, like, all kinds, and this is just like that, but kicked up about a thousand notches. So freaking good.

This is an indulgence for me!

One of my all time favorites.

With soymilk. It’s my favorite Starbucks drink.

A classic tea, with an awesome twist. I love the lavender infused taste!

This is basically steamed milk with a pyramid pouch of Tazo Earl Grey and a few vanilla shots. I like it the most out of Starbucks’ selection of tea lattes, but sometimes it can get too syrupy (depending on the barista).