Bergamot black tea, between history and legend

How familiar are you really with Earl Grey tea?

One of the most famous flavored black teas in the world, bearing a noble title: we’re talking aboutEarl Grey, the bergamot-flavored black tea that everyone has tasted at least once in their lifetime, but few know the origins of. When was this tea born? Who invented it? We tell you about it in this article!

What is Earl Grey tea?

The Earl Grey tea is a black (or red, if we use the Chinese designation more correctly) tea flavored with bergamot. The base was originally made from a Chinese tea (e.g., Keemun) while today we prefer to use more robust teas, such as teas from Assam, Darjeeling, or Ceylon, which already carry a natural citrus note. The tea is then flavored with someessential oil of bergamot, a citrus fruit typical of our land and particularly of Calabria and Sicily.

The oil is extracted from the rind of the fruit, and the process is quite expensive if the raw material is of good quality: think that it takes more than 100 bergamots to produce just under 100ml of essential oil! The tea leaves thus absorb the essential oil, capturing the aroma that they will release into the cup along with their natural scents.

Typically, Earl Grey has black tea as its base, but today there are many variations of it with green tea as well: in this case, the base used is often sencha tea, or green teas from India or Ceylon-countries that are experimenting a lot, producing types of tea other than just classic black.

If you want to taste a high-end variant made with Taiwan’s finest red leaf tea, try the Fo Shou Gan bergamot red tea by Nantou: floral, highly elegant and enriched with dried bergamot peel-a real treat.

To add a splash of color, cornflower petals are often added to the final product. The taste in the cup does not change, but that touch of blue gives the tea a decidedly romantic look.

The invention of Earl Grey tea

A tea with a very special story, suspended between truth and legend: how did Earl Grey come about?

Let us start with the name: “Earl” means “count,” and the protagonist of this story is indeed Charles Grey, Earl of Howick Hall as well as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. Apparently, one of Earl Grey’s aides, on his way to China on a diplomatic mission, saved the life of a mandarin who was in danger of drowning. To thank him, the mandarin gave him special black tea flavored with bergamot, which the man brought back and which depopulated the English. Some even claim that it was Earl Grey himself who sold the secret recipe for this tea to the famous Twinings company!

Historical inaccuracies, however, make us doubt that this episode really happened: first, at the time when Charles Grey was British Prime Minister, relations between England and the Asian country were on the verge of breaking down, with tensions that would lead to the Opium Wars very shortly thereafter, with the blocking of exports from China and the rupture of trade and diplomatic relations between the two countries. Second, bergamot is a typical Mediterranean citrus fruit, so its presence in China is somewhat suspect. Finally, the Chinese drank-especially at the time-predominantly green tea, so the choice to offer a guest black tea would have been unusual and unlikely.

Another story instead reports the invention as a completely accidental occurrence. The story goes that a small merchant vessel, carrying Chinese black leaf tea and crates of bergamots, was caught in a storm off the coast. Violent waves hitting the keel caused the vessel to sway dangerously, eventually capsizing both the citrus crates and the precious cargo of tea. Lo and behold, the rinds of the bergamots imbued the tea leaves with their aroma, creating something totally new and unexpected. Miraculously escaping the storm, the merchant looked worriedly at his cargo, in his eyes now completely ruined. He decided to take the tea to its destination anyway: to his enormous relief, every last leaf of that fragrant tea was loved and sold.

London Fog: Earl Grey tea wears white

A fascinating name for a pleasant variation on the theme that originated in the 1990s: the London Fog is, in other words, an Earl Grey Latte. The ingredients are in fact Earl Grey tea, vanilla extract, honey and whipped or condensed milk. The word “fog” refers precisely to the visual effect created by the cloud of milk, which makes the tea opaque like a sweet mist.

The curious thing is that although the name suggests English origins, this drink was invented in Canada, and to be precise by a pregnant woman. Mrs. Maria Loria, unable to drink coffee, asked the bartender at the Vancouver café she used to frequent to make her something tea-based: the drink had to be hot, sweet and creamy. Thus was born the London Fog, which soon ended up on the menu and conquered other cafes and bars in the area, until it became a popular drink throughout Canada and the United States. Even the famous Starbucks chain launched the Teavana London Fog Latte in 2009!

Earl Grey tea pairings

A fragrant tea, connoted by a robust flavor and citrus notes: how do we pair it?
Surely we must be careful to choose pairing that will hold its elegant but assertive character without being overpowered.

We can accompany a cup of Earl Grey with a lemon or orange dessert, such as shortbread or cake: the buttery texture of the cakes will be muted by the black tea, which will pleasantly cleanse the palate, while the citrus notes will be in perfect harmony. A winning combination is also with Neapolitan pastiera, rich and flavored with orange blossom water: perfect for the citrus notes of this tea.

Another incredibly mouth-watering combination is with chocolate: dark chocolate with low cocoa percentages (50% to 60%), milk chocolate and even white chocolate are excellent. If you want to be daring, you can even try a chocolate made with Earl Grey tea like the one you can find in our online store: the notes of bergamot, wrapped in the creaminess and sweetness of 54% cocoa, are truly a treat for the palate.

On the other hand, if we want to venture a savory pairing, red meats-particularly ribs and tenderloins-are excellent with this tea: the citrus fragrance of the tea mellows the taste of the meat, giving it a fruity, fragrant note and “defatting” the palate. At the same time, the tea gains more depth and a pleasant sweet-savory note is enhanced.

Do you want to surprise friends and guests with a special dessert using Earl Grey tea as an ingredient? Try our recipe for vanilla tart with Earl Grey plums and you will leave everyone amazed!

We’ve given you an incredible craving for bergamot black tea? You can find it available in our online store!