Earl Grey tea

Earl Grey tea leaves

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A cup of the brewed tea

Earl Grey tea is a tea blend with a distinctive citrus flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit. Traditionally, the term "Earl Grey" has applied only to black teas that contain oil of bergamot as a flavouring.

Due to its light elegant flavour, Earl Grey is widely considered the most aristocratic tea.

History

A bergamot orange from Calabria, Italy

Bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia) is a small citrus tree which blossoms during the winter and is grown commercially in Calabria, Italy. It is likely a hybrid of Citrus limetta and Citrus aurantium.

Tea flavoured with bergamot to imitate the more expensive types of Chinese tea has been known in England at least since the 1820s. In 1837 there is a record of court proceedings against Brocksop & Co. who were found to have supplied tea "artificially scented, and, drugged with bergamot in this country." A 'Grey's Tea' is known from the 1850s, but the first known published references to an 'Earl Grey' tea are advertisements by Charlton & Co. of Jermyn Street in London in the 1880s.

The Earl Grey blend, or "Earl Grey's Mixture", is assumed to be named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s and author of the Reform Bill of 1832. He reputedly received a gift, probably a diplomatic perquisite, of tea flavoured with bergamot oil.

According to one legend, a grateful Chinese mandarin whose son was rescued from drowning by one of Lord Grey's men first presented the blend to the Earl in 1803. The tale appears to be apocryphal, as Lord Grey never set foot in China and the use of bergamot oil to scent tea was then unknown in China. However, this tale is subsequently told (and slightly corrected) as on the Twinings website, as "having been presented by an envoy on his return from China".

Jacksons of Piccadilly claim they originated Earl Grey's Tea, Lord Grey having given the recipe to Robert Jackson & Co. partner George Charlton in 1830. According to Jacksons, the original recipe has been in constant production and has never left their hands. Theirs has been based on Chinese black tea since the beginning.

According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family seat in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the preponderance of lime in the local water. Lady Grey used it to entertain in London as a political hostess, and it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others, which is how Twinings came to market it as a brand.

"Earl Grey" (as applied to tea) is not a registered trademark, and numerous tea companies produce their own versions of Earl Grey tea, using a wide variety of tea leaves and additives. "Lady Grey", on the other hand, is a trademark of Twinings.

Variations

Lady Grey tea leaves

• There are different varieties of a tea known as Lady Grey; the two most common kinds (Lavender Lady Grey and Citrus Lady Grey), which combine Earl Grey tea with lavender and Seville oranges, respectively.
• A beverage called "London Fog" is a combination of Earl Grey, steamed milk and vanilla syrup.
• There are variations available including such ingredients as jasmine, as well as various flowers. A blend with added rose petals is known as French Earl Grey.
• A variety called Russian Earl Grey often contains ingredients such as citrus peels and lemon grass in addition to the usual black tea and bergamot.
• Also, several companies make a tea called Earl Grey Green or "Earl Green" tea, combining green tea leaves rather than the traditional black tea leaves with bergamot flavoring. A similar variation called Earl Grey White or "Earl White" tea combines white tea leaves with bergamot flavoring.
• Rooibos Earl Grey is a variation using this South African herbal tea as a substitute for the conventional form made with black tea.

Twinings reformulation

Twinings reformulated their Earl Grey tea in April 2011, claiming to have added "an extra hint of bergamot and citrus". The overwhelmingly negative comments on the website were picked up by the press, who drew attention to the establishment of a related protest group on Facebook.

Use as a flavouring

Tin of Earl Grey tea

Earl Grey tea is used as a flavouring for many types of cakes and confectionery, such as chocolates, as well as savoury sauces. For sauces, the flavour is normally created by adding tea bags to the basic stock, boiling for a few minutes and then discarding the bags. For sweet recipes, loose tea is often added to melted butter or hot cream and strained after the flavour is infused.

Alcoholic preparations

There is a considerable history of Earl Grey tea being used as a drink mixer, in particular for gin, within the British Isles, somewhat similar in principle to the Irish coffee, though this is seldom practiced today. During the later 19th century, poorer working class households began to combine the drinks as a minimum proof alcohol volume began to be meaningfully applied, following an 1855 revision to the Weights and Measures Act, to the relatively inexpensive spirit, making it unpalatable when taken neat. Being somewhat similarly flavoured, the two made for an affordable and pleasant pairing, in addition to which the necessary boiling during preparation plus its proof alcohol level helped disarm water-borne contaminants, then a significant public health risk. The drink became associated briefly with middle-class - particularly, female - alcoholism during the interwar years of the 20th century; it was during this time that the preparation was first referred to as a 'Moseley Tea Service', after the bourgeois area of Birmingham. Although the drink was never to achieve the ubiquity of the Irish coffee, it continues like many retro cocktails to be offered as a niche item in some contemporary bars and restaurants.

Toxicology

In several studies, application of high concentrations of some brands of bergamot oil directly to the skin was shown to increase redness after exposure to ultraviolet light; however, this should not apply to ordinary oral consumption of Earl Grey tea. Bergamot is a source of bergamottin which, along with the chemically related compound 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin, is known to be responsible for the grapefruit juice effect in which the consumption of the juice affects the metabolism of a variety of pharmaceutical drugs.

In one case study, a patient who consumed four litres of Earl Grey tea per day reported muscle cramps, which were attributed to the function of the bergapten in bergamot oil as a potassium channel blocker. The symptoms subsided upon reducing his consumption of Earl Grey tea to one litre per day.

In popular culture

In the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Jean-Luc Picard frequently ordered this blend of tea from the ship's replicator, usually in his ready room, with the oral request "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

The character Q, in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, explains to Bond that he could do more damage on his laptop in his pyjamas before his first cup of Earl Grey than Bond could do in a year in the field.

Rizzle Kicks sang a song, "Earl Grey", about the eponymous tea.

The character Mario Santos from the argentine television serie Los Simuladores, drinks exclusively Earl Grey.

The character Artemis in the Artemis Fowl Series exclusively drinks Earl Grey tea and none other.

External links

• Tending Toward Tea – an Earl Grey tea review site (Site last updated Sep 2010)

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