Earl Grey Tea
Earl Grey is a tea blend flavoured with bergamot, usually built on black tea. The citrus fragrance commonly comes from oil extracted from bergamot peel. It is a named blend style rather than one tea cultivar, and different makers use different base teas and flavouring methods.
How earl grey tea is prepared
Brewed as tea and used in drinks such as the London fog, which combines Earl Grey with steamed milk and vanilla syrup. The tea also flavours confectionery and sauces.
Extracting an ingredient into a liquid or fat. Temperature and duration depend on the documented application.
Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey teas are brewed and fermented into kombucha, combining pine-smoked tea with bergamot character.[4]
Fermentation with a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) that contributes bright acidity.
Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey teas are brewed and fermented into kombucha, combining pine-smoked tea with bergamot character.[4]
In depth
A blend defined by bergamot
Earl Grey combines tea with the aromatic character of bergamot. The familiar form uses black tea flavoured with oil from bergamot peel, but the name does not identify a single cultivar or a fixed blend of leaves. Makers choose different bases and flavouring methods, so one Earl Grey can taste quite different from another. Green-tea and oolong versions also exist. Bergamot is the defining flavouring relationship; a plain black tea and an Earl Grey made from that tea are distinct materials to describe when discussing a drink’s composition.[1]
Which bergamot?
The bergamot used for Earl Grey is a citrus fruit, Citrus bergamia. Its fragrant peel supplies the essence used to flavour the tea. It is distinct from the aromatic garden herbs also called bergamot, including Monarda species, which belong to the mint family. Calabria in southern Italy is an important production area for the citrus. Its oil has uses in perfumery as well as food and tea, and its aroma can carry floral, green and spicy notes alongside citrus. An Earl Grey ingredient declaration should therefore identify bergamot flavouring or peel according to what the maker actually uses.[2]
The black-tea foundation
Chinese Keemun is one traditional base for Earl Grey. Keemun is a black tea associated with Qimen in Anhui, and can show floral and slightly smoky aromas with a gentle malty character. Those leaf qualities remain relevant when bergamot is added. Some Earl Grey blends also include Lapsang Souchong, bringing a more deliberate smoky note. Others use different black teas, or move to green or oolong bases. The blend name alone does not establish the origin of every leaf or the presence of smoke; the particular base matters when comparing cups.[1][3]
A famous name with uncertain origins
Bergamot-flavoured tea is documented from 1824, before the earliest known advertisements explicitly using the name Earl Grey. The blend is commonly associated with Charles Grey, British prime minister in the 1830s, but several competing stories attempt to explain that connection. A tale about a grateful Chinese mandarin is generally treated as apocryphal, while other accounts credit particular merchants or the Grey family’s household blend. Historical advertisements also used names such as Grey’s Tea and Grey’s mixture. The surviving accounts support a nineteenth-century blending history more securely than any single story of invention.[1]
Flavouring and named variations
One way to make Earl Grey is to coat or spray the tea with bergamot oil. Another uses dried bergamot rind, which releases flavour during brewing. Commercial versions may instead use other natural or artificial flavourings, so the name alone does not guarantee a particular oil or method. Variations add citrus peel, flowers, vanilla or other ingredients. Lady Grey is a related named blend, and versions made with green tea, white tea or rooibos are also sold. These variations should be identified as such rather than treated as one interchangeable recipe.[1]
From teapot to mixed drinks
Steeping time changes how the tea and citrus come across. Over-steeping can make the cup bitter; published recommendations commonly fall between two and five minutes, depending on the blend and the intended result. The tea is also used beyond a plain hot infusion. A London fog combines Earl Grey with steamed milk and vanilla syrup, and Earl Grey milk tea appears in bubble-tea preparations. In cooking, the leaves can be infused into cream, butter or a sauce and then strained out. These uses draw on the finished scented blend, rather than bergamot on its own.[1]
References
- [1]EncyclopediaEarl Grey tea — Wikipedia↑§1↑§3↑§4↑§5↑§6
- [2]EncyclopediaBergamot orange — Wikipedia↑§2
- [3]EncyclopediaKeemun — Wikipedia↑§3
- [4]InstagramPost — Sep 5, 2026↑prepared