Did You Know… You can drink London Fogs Iced!

Did You Know… You can drink London Fogs Iced!

I talk about tea often enough to make it obvious I love it. One of my favorite tea concoctions is the London Fog. I learned about it when I worked at Starbucks. If you’ve never heard of it before, you’re probably blinking at your screen, maybe even reaching for google. Never fear; a London Fog is kind of like a coffee misto. It’s tea in the bottom and steamed milk on top. At Starbucks, they sweeten it with a few pumps of their vanilla syrup. An official London Fog is made with Earl Grey tea, but you can make it with whatever you want.

When I talked to a British friend about London Fogs he asked the most important question; is the tea weak or strong? The answer is strong! You only use half the amount of water in a London Fog so the milk won’t water down the flavor. As an added bonus, most cafes will leave the tea bag in the final drink, so it can continue to add flavor while you drink it.

How Do You Make a London Fog at Home?

Late last year, I went on a quest to start drinking London Fogs again. We don’t have an espresso maker or milk steamer, so this proved difficult. The ingredients are easy to find; I have two large boxes of Earl Grey tea in the cupboard that I use for making iced tea and I usually sweeten it with honey instead of vanilla. But in order to create a perfect London Fog, you need a little bit of foam on top. If you have an espresso maker or milk steamer, no problem. But how do you get the same effect otherwise?

At first I tried just heating up milk in the microwave and drinking it without foam. Don’t do that. It’s really not the same. You need that fluffy foam to get the full affect for the drink. Next, I tried a mug and whisk. At first, this met with little success, mostly because I only had giant whisks to use in tiny containers. Less than ideal. But a whisk will create foam if you can get the sizing right.

A friend also suggested heating milk in a Tupperware container, then putting on the lid and shaking it. This works really well, and actually produces some pretty dense foam in short order. The downside is, if you can’t get or break the airtight seal, you have an instant mess. You can mitigate this slightly by shaking over the sink, but apparently we have some unreliable lids. After three incidents, I bought myself a tiny whisk, and it has served me well.

How Do You Get your London Fog Fix in the Summer?

Until we moved here, I never minded drinking hot tea in the summer. I drink hot coffee every morning (I refuse to drink iced coffee) so why would hot tea be any different? But when it’s 35-40 Celsius, it makes a difference. I’ve always been a fan of iced tea, and drink it year round, but I’ve learned lots of teas taste just as good iced if you get the balance of leaves/tea bags to water/ice right.

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to our favorite local coffee shop. It was a cool day, so I ordered a hot drink. I noticed their special was an iced London Fog. How in the world do you make an iced London Fog, I wondered? Then I noticed the barista making one for another customer and hurried home to consult Google. Not only are iced London Fogs a thing, apparently they’re pretty popular! And lucky for me, they’re even easier to make than the hot version!

The ingredients for an iced London Fog are the same, except you also need ice. Brew a small amount of tea (about half a standard mug) to get a super concentrated flavor. When the tea is ready, sweeten to taste while it’s hot. I’ve forgotten to put my honey in before I iced the tea a few times and it’s no fun trying to dissolve honey in cold tea.

Then simply pour the tea over ice and top with milk. Simple! At the coffee shop, they poured the tea on top, like a macchiato. But I haven’t been brave enough to try it, for fear I’d overflow my cup. It takes a few tries to get the ratio of ice/milk/tea right, but you really don’t need a lot of milk to get the desired effect.

Fun with Flavors! Try these London Fogs Iced!

Discovering iced London Fogs unlocked a door for me. As I said, you make a proper London Fog with Earl Grey tea, but I often use other flavors. I instantly wondered how these would translate iced. For the next two weeks, I experimented with different teas, much to my husband’s delight.

I reached first for Twinings Orange and Cinnamon Spice tea. I love drinking this tea iced because it really brings out the hint of orange. Turns out adding milk makes it taste exactly like an orange creamsicle – Domerin would be pleased!

Realizing that fruit teas were going to work well for this, and since we always have blueberry tea in the house (it’s my husband’s favorite), I tried Celestial Seasoning’s True Blueberry tea next. Of all the flavors we tried, this was the one we liked best. There’s something refreshing about an herbal blueberry tea mixed with milk. It almost tastes like a milkshake, but it’s easier to make!

Following the fruit train, I gave Tetley’s Bellini tea a whirl. The primary flavor here is peach; I pair it with Earl Grey when I make iced tea to get something that’s rich but also fruity. I particularly liked this one, though it didn’t quite compare to the Blueberry flavor wise.

For my last experiment, I used Chai tea. I’m a huge fan of Chai, but it didn’t translate well to the iced London Fog. It could be because I used a less than stellar Chai (I’m working my way through a box a friend didn’t want), or if the spices just get lost when it’s iced. It would be worth trying again.

I’m not done experimenting with iced London Fogs yet. I’d like to try David’s Pumpkin Chai at some point,as well as their Chocolate Chili Chai. But both are in short supply at the moment.

If you decide to experiment with iced London Fogs, be sure to drop your favorite flavors in the comments; I’m always eager to try more!

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