When you find yourself bored with your mid-morning coffee, or you’re suffering from the Monday blues every day this week. Or you’re looking for a marvellous way to mismanage your time, then this may be the solution you’ve been searching for that is so good butlers should serve it to us when we’re forced to wait in lines at the supermarket. This. Is. Pure Tannin. Gold. And it’s Esther’s London Fog Tea: The Brew for Every Mood.

A brief history that’s nowhere near the actual foggy lands of London town:

Shrouded in a fog as thick and mysterious as Sherlock Holmes’s love life, you’d assume that the London Fog Tea was curated by a Londoner suffering through another misty morning in the English capital.

However, my darling Watson, it’s crossed continents to British Columbia, Canada. There baristas twisted their traditional Earl Grey teas into a global sensation to land in the tiny outback town of Elsie Creek, where we meet the tiara-toting octogenarian Esther Bennett. And this is her spin on this luscious brew of the London Fog Tea.

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Before we get down to brewing, let’s talk about the barista’s baulk at the use of latte with your tea!

There’s a lot of locker-room banter tossed around about using the word latte when talking about tea.

So, to skip the boring school teacher’s speech, a latte (originally called a café latte) was an espresso coffee made with steamed milk.

To ask for a tea latte can be confusing for your local traditionally trained barista when you ask for:

• Tea Latte (which roughly translates to milky tea)
• Earl Grey Latte (a milky Earl Grey Tea)
• London Fog Latte (can be milky tea or coffee with a dash of vanilla!)
• Earl Grey Lavender Latte (Besides tripping up on your tongue saying this twister three times real fast, this is a milky Earl Grey Tea with lavender)

But they can all mean the same thing: The London Fog Tea.

And no one makes it better than Esther…

Esther’s London Fog Tea Recipe is fit for a queen!

Esther’s London Fog Tea is like putting on an old comfy sweater. It’s like sliding on a pair of yoga pants as you slip your hair into a ponytail because you don’t need to receive visitors to indulge in this tastebud fantasy. But it will make you feel special.

How can a tea be so special and so good, we should have been making it decades ago!

It’s the simplicity of the ingredients, cucumber.

Earl Grey Tea: has a distinctive flavour of black tea infused with bergamot, which is a type of citrus fruit with similarities to an orange or a lemon. It’s the heart and soul of this little tea latte that smells divine.

Milk: You can use any milk (or alternative) just pick one that froths.

Vanilla-lavender syrup: Yes, cucumber, this is the secret ingredient, passed from china teacup to china teacup.

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What’s so lush about lavender to put it in tea?

Besides the cliché of grandmothers bombing themselves with lavender, it’s also known as the herb of love, and it has an easily recognisable light floral fragrance that causes a calming effect.

Known for its medicinal qualities, aromatherapists use lavender to treat headaches, nervous disorders, and exhaustion. Hoteliers used to put sprigs of lavender on hotel pillows to help their guests sleep. And herbalists use lavender to treat skin ailments, wounds, eczema, and acne with lavender oil. They also used it in a healing bath for joint and muscle pain.

But to drink your lavender in Esther’s London Fog tea—you need the culinary lavender that is free from herbicides and pesticides. And not the oil.

To make Esther’s London Fog Tea the vanilla-lavender syrup is the secret ingredient.

Everyone knows the secret is in the sauce. In this case, it’s this super easy syrup where you’ll need:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar (brown or white or both—or any other fake sugar works the same)

Add a vanilla bean split in half (or 1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste)

1 heaped tablespoon of culinary-grade dried lavender

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

Combine water, sugar, and vanilla bean into a saucepan.

Stir slowly over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and simmer gently for a few minutes.

Remove from the heat, add your lavender and vanilla essence (and the vanilla bean paste if you didn’t have a vanilla bean).

**Don’t overcook or boil as the lavender will turn the syrup bitter.

Let it steep… which means waiting for it to cool. 15 minutes is good. 30 minutes is better. 60 minutes is too much.

Once cooled, strain into a clean jar.

It’ll last a few weeks when kept in the refrigerator. Or pour it into ice cube trays and pop it into the freezer it’ll keep for months.

Now, let’s take the hard-hat approach and put this tea together:

1. Brew the Earl Grey Tea: Start by steeping your high-quality Earl Grey tea in hot water for about 3-5 minutes. The longer you steep, the stronger the tea flavour, I say. You’ll need 2 tea bags (1 per cup) or 1 tablespoon of Earl Grey tea in a tea pot. Oh, and do make it f-f-f-f-freshly boiled water, puhleese!
2. Add the vanilla-lavender syrup
3. Froth the Milk: just put it in a microwave-proof container. Zap it for a few, then put a lid on it and shake the bedsheets out of it until it’s frothy. Or use your fancy milk frotherererer thingy. It’s the frothed milk that gave the foggy appearance—and the name—to this cup of tea.

Garnish if you must! But I wouldn’t.

As some teatotalers like to feel extra fancy and sprinkle dried lavender buds on top for that finishing touch, I’d skip that part. Not only do they get between your teeth, they’re like crunchy/soggy bits that feel like bugs have fallen into your drink.

Anyhoo…

Make it as unique as you are by skipping the midlife crisis that smells of motorbike leather and helmets by making this brew:

Better than a spiked hot chocolate at Christmas, the beauty of Esther’s London Fog Tea lies in its adaptability, where you personalise it to suit your tastes and mood:

Spiced Sensation: Experiment with spices like cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg for a warm, spiced London Fog perfect for winter days. Hmmm, imagine the aromas, when curled up on the couch with your next favourite book.

Swap for other herbs: Swap out Earl Grey for a chai tea, chamomile, or rooibos for a caffeine-free alternative.

Sweeteners that are not-so-sweet: You can add maple syrup, or agave nectar, or skip the syrup entirely by just adding a dash of vanilla essence. As mentioned earlier, you can make this syrup with fake sugar too.

London Fogg Latte: this is the coffee version of adding espresso coffee and a dash of vanilla essence, then adding frothed milk. And that’s it.

For an alcoholic twist to this tea try the London Fog Cocktail:

Move over kiddies, it’s now time for the grown-ups’ version.

When you make a big teapot and you’re not sure what to do with the leftovers, don’t worry cucumber, I’ve got you covered.

Labelled by cocktail specialists as an Earl Grey Syrup, combine the Earl Grey (milk-free) tea mix and vanilla-lavender syrup into your favourite jug and let it steep in the fridge.

Then you grab:

• A tall glass
• Ice
• A nip of pink gin (or favourite gin)
• Add the sweet tea concoction (without the milk)
• A squeeze of lime or lemon.
• Garnish with a lemon slice.
• Stir, then sip.

Mmm.

I mean double Mmm—mmm…

PST: you can add milk to ramp up this delightful concoction, just be sure to skip the lime to not curdle the cream.

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Cheers to tea-time adventures

So forget about overdosing on Espresso shots when you can create this cozy companion that is perfect for that chilly morning while curling up with a good book. Try the cocktail for that elegant twist when celebrating a sunset just like Esther, the colourful tiara-wearing octogenarian you’d love to meet.

And you can find Esther inside this book: Buffalo Dust which is more than just a story—it’s an experience, just like Esther’s London Fog Tea.

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| #Escape2HEA ~ because everyone deserves an Escape from the drama in their day!