When you work in food service of any kind –…
Homemade London Fog Tea Latte
One of the new Tazo tea lattes at Starbucks is the London Fog Latte. It’s made with Earl Grey tea – hence the “London Fog” name. Earl Grey tea is a classic tea, a longtime favorite of many tea drinkers. It’s made with black tea and is flavored with bergamot, a citrus fruit with a orangy perfumy flavor. Starbucks uses vanilla syrup in their London Fog recipe to highlight the bergamot and give the tea a full, warm flavor.
The drink is easy to make at home if you have some vanilla syrup on hand, whether it’s homemade or store-bought. Earl Grey tends to get a little bitter if it is oversteeped, so be sure to use double the amount of tea to get double strength tea for your tea latte instead of simply letting the tea sit longer. Also, feel free to use more vanilla if you like your drink a little sweeter.
Homemade London Fog Tea Latte
8-oz strong Earl Grey Tea, hot
4-oz milk
3 tbsp vanilla syrup
Pour hot Earl Grey tea into a large mug or other serving glass. Stir in vanilla syrup.
Steam milk, or heat it in the microwave and whisk until very frothy, and pour it into the sweetened tea.
Serve immediately.
Makes 1.
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve gotten hooked on these in the past few weeks and was wondering how I could craft my own!
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been looking for it and yours seems to be the most accurate out there.
I think I’d like to try it with the hot earl grey, milk and a tsp of vanilla extract. maybe less. interesting.
That sounds quite strange but I think I might dig out the Earl Grey and give it a whirl!
Love the recipe! I also tried it with hazelnut syrup to give it a twist.
Thanks for sharing the recipe for tea latte, sounds delicious, can’t wit to try it.
: )
I had such a terrible cough, I couldn’t stop long enough to order some tea at my college coffee shop. After waiting an eternity for me to stop coughing long enough to order, the barrista tells me, “I don’t know what you were going to order, but I’m making you a London Fog.” It was so hot, creamy, sweet and soothing – I am now addicted. Have ordered it several different businesses, and no one makes it better than a 20-something guy at my local bookstore ($2.00 for 16 oz to the rim – including tax!!). He’s a master! However, it’s becoming pricey and am glad to find some recipes to try at home.
Thank you for posting this. I got hooked on these last year when I came down with strep. I love the fact that I can now make these at home and save my $3.00. Thank you.
Starbucks is alright I would rather drink the London Fog from Second Cup (Canadian based company) They use only steamed milk, vanilla syrup and a tea bag. No water at all and they have also said that alot of people like it with a different type of tea, so I may have to try that, but I am sure hooked on these. Very soothing
I suppose I’ll have to try the Starbucks version. I normally avoid them because their drinks generally suck and because I’d rather support a Canadian coffeshop, but I have a Starbucks gift card lying around…
So far I like the ones they serve at the the coffeshop in the library at my university the best out of all the places I’ve tried. I go there way too often now, haha!
Pff, forgot to say thanks for the recipe! XD
Instead of the vanilla syrup I use Fat Free International Delights “French Vanilla”. It makes for a creamy frothier lower cal version.
This is yummy! I just saw it on Pinterest and followed the link here. Thanks for sharing!
Just made this with Roobois tea (Sp?) and it is awesome! A word of caution: This highly addictive and the vanilla syrup has 80 calories/30ml-ouch!…..but enjoy!
I first had a London Fog in a private owned coffee shop in my downtown. I thought I’d give it a try and fell in love with it however then I found out I was lactose intolerant. Luckily they still made it with soy milk for me so I was quite grateful.I tried a London Fog from Starbucks about a month later but I didn’t find it was quite the same. I’ve decided to keep my 4 dollars to myself and just make it at home, so thanks for the recipe!
Love my London Fog, my only Starbuck’s indugence and only when it’s cold and I need something to warm me from the inside. I do ask for non fat milk only, no water brew and 1/2 the vanilla syrup. Non fat also gives a better foam. I’ve made them at home too (long before Starbuck’s did). This recipe is pretty right on
I have always loved earl grey! I used to drink it hot and black. (Thank you Captn Pickard!) However about 5 years ago, my boyfriend turned me on to Lavender Cream Earl Grey Lattes… the only place that I have found them is in a Fresno based teahouse… Teazers. Anyway… Starbuckks is the closest mass produced anything that comes close….
If you can find lavender cream earl grey… awesome, if not try this….
Earl Grey Cream (at Teavana) or a full leaf tea like Tazo’s earl grey 1.5 tsp loose tea
1/4 teaspoon food grade lavender (find at healthfood stores)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp honey
1 tsp brown sugar
Steep with 8 ounces of water
add 4 ounces of steamed milk/ or better yet.. 1-2 ounces heavy cream…
YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!
I used vanilla flavored stevia from the health food store, for a sugar free variety and how delicious!!
Thanks for the recipe! I tried a sip of a London Fog that my friend ordered and I’ve been dying to try it again. I usually like coffee over tea, but I wanted to try something to soothe my throat. I was worried about frothing the milk, but I used a whisk and whipped it like crazy. I use sugar free vanilla syrup from starbucks (about 1 tablespoon). It turned out awesome!
Like .Amy, I first tried it on recommendation from the barrista at our locally owned coffee shop. Since my “habit” became too expensive to keep buying, I asked Santa for Earl Grey K-Cups, an Aerolatte, and a bottle of sugar free vanilla syrup for Christmas 2010. I’ve been making them at home daily ever since!
For those like me with a Keurig or other single-brew type coffeemaker, the recipe proportions above are perfect, but I use 2 K-Cups (I prefer the Twinings over the Bigelow Earl Grey). I set it to the smaller cup size (mine has only 2 choices…I think they are 6 and 8 oz., but I’m not sure) to make the tea stronger, then add the vanilla syrup. I heat the milk for 20-30 seconds in the microwave in a separate container, then froth with the Aerolatte and add to the tea and vanilla syrup.
Thanks for sharing this!
Finally got around to trying this. It’s a great at-home substitute for the pricey Starbucks version. I use way less vanilla syrup (1 T) to match my sweetness preferences, but other than that, this was a great recipe. Now to find myself an aerolatte…
I add some cinnamon on top, it’s delicious!
I’m going to make a simple syrup flavored with a bit of orange and vanilla for this one! Thanks for the recipe!
I was a little coffee’d out during a recent trip to Seattle and discovered the London Fog in Vicitoria at the Soda Shoppe. I’m an avid coffee/tea lover and I love earl grey because of its rich character. The London Fog does not disappoint! Can’t wait to try it at home.
I love tea and just got a milk steamer. I was looking to combine the two and found this recipe. (I even made the vanilla syrup first to go with it!) I really like it, and I’ll definitely make it again. However, having never tried Starbucks’ or anyone else’s first, I can definitely say that the recipe calls for way too much syrup. I put the full 3 tbsp in and it was very sweet! I’ll try it with 3 tsp next time and see if that works better. Anyway, great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been making this for a while – before I ever tried the starbucks one. I use earl grey, milk, and a dash of vanilla (from Mexico if I can) and some honey. I never tried the vanilla syrup, but I definitely love the honey. Especially if you are not feeling well with a sore throat!
I ask for a medium earl grey at mcdonalds with 2 milk and 2 sugar free shots of vanilla. Not bad and much cheaper!
Hey cool; it looks like I can heat and whip the milk. I don’t drink coffee, so getting an espresso maker just to steam some milk seemed unnecessary.
Another tasty variation is asking for a caramel, or my favourite, English toffee flavour rather than the vanilla usually used in a London Fog.
I steamed 1 cup of milk sprinkled with cinnamon and splash of vanilla extract in the microwave for one minute. 2 Earl Grey tea bags steeped in 1 cup of water for about 6 minutes. I then combined all in my mixer that i use to make smoothies and added one teaspoon of sugar in the raw. Blended for about 10 seconds. AMAZING!