What Is A London Fog Tea Latte?
Picture this: you're cuddled up by the fireplace with a warm mug of tea in your hands and your favorite music playing softly in the background. There's snow falling outside, and you watch the flakes drift past your window as you sip your tea. Sounds amazing, right? Tea provides a variety of health benefits, which makes this prospect even better. But what if you elevated the experience with a London fog tea latte?
For those unfamiliar with the term, a London fog is an Earl Grey tea latte, meaning the steeped tea is combined with hot steamed milk to create a balance of flavors (via Simply Scratch). The concoction is enhanced by the addition of vanilla syrup to add a touch of sweetness. Since Early Grey is a black tea, it provides approximately 30 milligrams of caffeine per cup, per Simple Loose Leaf. For comparison, Healthline notes that a cup of brewed coffee contains about 95 milligrams of caffeine.
If you like a sweetened caffeine boost but you don't want to down a cup of coffee every morning, a London fog tea latte is a great alternative. You'll still receive the kick you need to get yourself up and out the door, but you probably won't experience as many negative side effects, such as jitters.
We don't know about you, but the London fog sounds like an amazing drink to us. So, why isn't the beverage more popular? And where did it come from to begin with?
The London fog tea latte originated in Vancouver
According to Vancouver Is Awesome, the London fog tea latte was created by a Vancouver resident in the 1990s. If you assumed the beverage originated in London given its name, you wouldn't be the first person to follow this line of thinking. Apparently, no one knows why the Earl Grey latte was given the "London fog" moniker, not even the woman who came up with the idea in the first place (per Simply Scratch).
In the mid-1990s, a woman named Mary Loria was living in Vancouver near The Buckwheat Cafe. Loria would frequent the cafe with her husband as it was known for its quality coffee and pastries, but when Loria became pregnant she knew she had to find a less caffeinated drink to consume during their visits. "There was this young woman who worked there, she was awesome and we got to know her over time we got there," Loria recalled to Vancouver Is Awesome. "I asked her to make me an Earl Grey tea, but with skim milk."
Loria would then mix in vanilla sugar once the drink was prepared for her, and she enjoyed the tea latte so much that she decided to tell everyone she knew to order the drink at their local cafes. The London fog grew in popularity from there, eventually picking up its name from an unknown individual along the way, per Grow Tea Go. Now, the drink can be ordered at Starbucks locations across the world.