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A few years back I had the pleasure of visiting the West Coast.  Since we were there for a wedding and had some time to explore BC we seized the opportunity to take in as much as we could.  It was there that we had our first London Fog Latte, and I was hooked!  London Fog has been prepared a variety of ways but has a few basics in common- a tea base, steamed milk, and sweetened.

It’s exciting to see that larger tea houses are now promoting the benefits of tea and showcasing some creative infusions including tea lattes and infusions.  I am not so excited however that they cost so much compared to what it would cost to do it at home.  The great news is that all it takes is a few minutes to prepare.

This version of the London Fog (aka Earl Grey Vanilla Misto) is more like a hybrid of the Seattle Fog since we use a tea concentrate derived from steeping loose leaf tea in a small amount of water.

Oh and since we’re not a fan of the sugary syrups we scrapped the vanilla syrup and replaced it with Agave nectar and a dash of vanilla extract

Here is a list of what you will need:

• Loose Leaf Tea – Creme de Earl Grey (its our version of Earl Grey but along with Bergamot contains a smooth vanilla finish) or Tulsi Herbal Chai (A nice Rooibos based caffeine free chai alternative).  I find both to be not as overpowering as straight Earl Grey and have a few more layers of complexity to them.
• tea infuser/pot
• whisk (I found one at my local dollar store that works surprisingly well)
  
• agave Nectar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 cups water

For a garnish I like to add the following:

• 1 Honey Stick
  
• cinnamon powder

First things first- get that water to a rolling boil.  Once its boiling add the loose leaf tea to your teapot and allow it to steep for 3-5 minutes. This is also a good time to add the agave nectar and vanilla extract. Take 1 cup of milk and heat it (stove top of microwave).  Whisk until you get plenty of bubbles.  Take your steeped tea and pour into your mugs (I shoot for about half way- this is my preferred ratio of milk to tea!) followed by the steamed milk.  Scoop some extra milk foam on top and garnish with half a honey stick (1 stick = 1 tsp) and cinnamon (I’m almost neurotic about putting the honey on first before the cinnamon as I find the milk froth stays longer if you put a thin layer of honey on top).

Serves 2.  About 100 calories each

Share your comments with us and let us know how it turned out , or if you have tried this with other types of tea.  I have had it with peppermint and also substituted almond extract (the nutty-ness of the almond extract pairs well with Earl Grey)