London Fog
London fog (also known as Vanilla Tea Misto or an Earl Grey Tea Latte) is the name of a drink which originated in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, although the creator remains unknown, among several claims. One such claim is from Buckwheat Cafe on 4th Avenue in Vancouver (now closed) when in December 1996 a regular customer, Mary Loria, who was pregnant and couldn't drink coffee asked for an alternative. Another is from the Island Coffeehouse in Langley, Washington, a non-profit student run organization, where it was originally made with Peppermint Tea in 2006. However, patrons of Starbucks in Calgary, Alberta have asked for this drink since the winter of 2004, coincidentally when Loria was visiting family. It is common in Washington and Oregon, as well as in BC's lower mainland and throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Canadian Second Cup cafés also carry the drink. The "London Fog" was recently the subject of an investigation on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's afternoon show Freestyle.
1 bag Earl Grey tea
½ cup boiling water
16 oz milk (2% or whole)
1 shot vanilla syrup
Add the boiling water to a mug along with the tea bag. Let steep for 2–4 minutes to achieve optimum flavor—the result is an Earl Grey tea concentrate.
2–4 minutes
Heat up milk. Access to a steamer is preferred. Mix in vanilla syrup.
Add hot milk to the tea as desired. Adjust components according to taste.
- •Oregon Mist: Replace the Earl Grey tea with green tea and the vanilla syrup with amaretto; popularized by the Glenwood restaurants in Eugene, Oregon.
- •Manchester Fog: Replace the milk with soy milk.
- •Dublin Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with Irish breakfast tea.
- •Bangalore Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with a chai tea blend; created by Kavya Raman at Roosters Coffeehouse, Carleton University, Ottawa ON; also known as a Bombay Fog (coined in Concordia-Loyola's Second Cup, Montreal, QC).
- •Atlantic City Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with with rose tea; created by Alexis V. Juneau at MCB Quantico, Quantico, Virginia.
- •Winter Fog: Reduce the vanilla syrup and add clover honey to taste.
- •Maui Fog: Replace the vanilla syrup with coconut syrup.
- •Tokyo Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with matcha green tea.
- •Cape Town Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with rooibos tea
- •Nanaimo Mist: Replace the vanilla syrup with almond syrup; accredited to Ravenna.
- •Oxford Haze: Replace the Earl Grey tea with English breakfast tea and the vanilla syrup with hazelnut syrup.
- •Victoria Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with lavender-scented tea.
- •Montreal Fog: Replace the Earl Grey tea with yerba mate, and add hazelnut syrup.
- •London Smog: Add a shot of espresso.
- •Mexican Fog: Replace the vanilla syrup with agave syrup.
- •Halifax Fog: Replace the vanilla syrup with Nova Scotian maple syrup.
- •Savannah Fog: Replace the vanilla syrup with lavender syrup.
- •Seattle Fog: soy misto (½ water, ½ soy, steamed) with 2 pumps of vanilla syrup and one pump of hazelnut syrup, in 2 bags of Earl Grey Tea.
- •Durban Fog: A cross between a Cape Town Fog and a Bangalore Fog; basically the same as a London Fog, but replacing Earl Grey with Rooibos Tea and adding a pinch of tea masala.
- •Fog on the Tyne: Variation on the London Fog; start with a cup of hot milk, add a heaped spoonful of sugar, drop in an Earl Grey tea bag, and let it diffuse directly into the milk for 30–60 seconds.