Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a tea fanatic. You can open any cupboard in my kitchen and expect to find several types of tea nestled in every possible space.
You may even have the privilege to be buried alive by the sudden avalanche that ensues after opening a particularly full cupboard, but I try to warn people before they open THAT one.
Do I drink all of these teas? Yes, I do actually. I go through phases too. One week or month, I might only be interested in Jasmine
or Orange Blossom tea
. The next it might be Green
or perhaps an earthy Pu’erh
.
Regardless of my cravings for other teas, there is but one tea that will always be my favorite; Earl Grey
.
What is Earl Grey Tea?
Earl Grey tea is almost always a black tea, though I have seen green tea variations
. The loose black tea is infused with the peels of the bergamot citrus fruit giving the tea its bold, fragrant, and delicious flavor. The best bergamot comes from southern Italy and the Mediterranean. The fruit’s peel is used for flavoring desserts and teas and is the primary source for extracting the bergamot essential oil.
Nowadays, the essential oil is used to flavor Earl Grey tea over the peels to give the tea an especially bold flavor and aroma. If you prefer a softer Earl Grey, you can learn how to flavor black tea with bergamot peels here. Anyone who is not a fan of Earl Grey should give this variation a try.
How to Make Earl Grey Tea Using Essential Oils
My keen obsession with Earl Grey has led me to trying TONS of different brands, There used to be one that I loved above all others….until they changed the formula. You see, I like my Earl Grey to be strong, double strong in fact, so when Paisley
changed from being the “Bergamost!”back to regular strength, I was a bit saddened. OK I was distraught! And yes, I tried double bagging the regular and it just wasn’t the same. I’m not sure if it was the strength or merely the source of bergamot that changed.
All I know is it isn’t the same at all.
And so my journey to find that perfect cup of Earl Grey tea continued until FINALLY I decided to try making it myself.
Making your own Earl Grey is really simple.
Here’s What You’re Going to Need:
• 1 cup of high quality black tea
• Young Living Bergamot Essential Oil (where to buy)
• A wide mouth mason jar
The quality of the black tea you use will greatly influence the end product so make sure you get a good one. The nice thing about making your own Earl Grey is you can choose the highest quality ingredients and support Fair Trade sources.
Also, you CANNOT use just any bergamot essential oil. It MUST be therapeutic grade only. I use Young Living essential oils because I know that their quality is unmatched. Not to mention their Bergamot Essential Oil smells full bodied and amazingly pure.
When I smelled the bergamot essential oil from the bottle, I knew it would make an excellent Earl Grey tea.
It took a few tries, but what I came up with is what I consider a fantastic Earl Grey. I like mine strong, so keep in mind that you can add more or less bergamot essential oil to suit your tastes.
Loving Preparation- How to Make Earl Grey Tea Using Essential Oils
This is the basic Earl Grey tea recipe, so here’s what you need to do to make it:
• Add 5-20 drops of Young Living Bergamot Essential Oil straight into the mason jar. (5 drops yields a light bergamot flavor while 20 drops is pretty strong for all but the most diehard Earl Grey lovers)
• Swirl the oil around the inside of the jar to coats the sides evenly
• Next, pour in the black tea (I used 1 black tea blended with rose petals and another called Ancient Forest Tea)
• Cap the jar and shake vigorously to help spread the essential oil on all of the tea leaves
• Let the tea infuse anywhere from 12hrs-3 days to allow proper curing
You can make a cup of tea right away, but I recommend letting the bergamot essential oil cure and infuse the tea for several days.
Use within 5-6 months for the best flavor as this tea will weaken over time.
Check out my video below on how to make it 🙂
[yumprint-recipe id=’14’]
Fancy Earl Grey Tea Options
You can of course spruce up your Earl Grey tea by adding different ingredients or trying different loose tea blends.
Some of my favorite additions include:
• Vanilla bean, fresh
or powdered
• 1 drop of Young Living Neroli Essential Oil (aka orange blossom essential oil)
• Dried rose petals or 1 drop of Young Living Rose Essential Oil (makes what is known as French Earl Grey tea)
• Dried lemon peel
• Corn flowers
• Lavender flowers
(makes what is known as Lady Grey tea)
• 1-2 drops of Young Living Lemongrass Essential Oil and 1-2 drops of Young Living Essential Oil (makes what is known as Russian Earl Grey tea)
• Steamed milk or cream (makes a London Fog. Try my recipe here.)
Add any of these ingredients to the basic Earl Grey tea recipe above.
You can also make the basic recipe with different tea bases like:
• White tea
• Green tea
• Lapsang Souchong
• Rooibos
You can find all of these loose leaf teas at Mountainroseherbs.com
How to Make the Perfect Cup of Earl Grey Tea
• For every 8oz of water add 1 tsp of Earl grey tea
• Steep the tea COVERED for 3-5 minutes depending on your preferred strength. You want to steep the tea covered to keep the essential oil from evaporating out of the tea.
• Strain the tea and add cream, your favorite milk, and add the sweetener of your choice like raw honey
, maple syrup
, or organic sugar
to taste.
This is one of my favorite recipes, so I hope you enjoy this wonderful version of Earl Grey tea.
