Milk in my Earl Grey?! That used to be my reaction when I thought about adding milk and sweetener to a morning cup of Earl Grey. In a nice strong English or Irish breakfast tea? Sure. Those go well with a bit of sweetener and some milk or cream. But Earl Grey? Surely not. For those who might not know, Earl Grey is a black tea flavored with Bergamot oil. Bergamot is a type of citrus fruit, so its oil gives Earl Grey a distinctive citrusy scent and flavor. Earl Grey was one of my first favorites when I really started to drink hot tea back in my early years of grad school; I also started watching Star Trek The Next Generation around that time which may have had something to do it. Ahem.
“Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” — Jean-Luc Picard
Anyone? Anyways, I often enjoy hot tea with milk and sweetener when I’m out at a restaurant for breakfast or brunch. And Earl Grey is popular enough that most breakfast/brunch locales that have hot tea have Earl Grey. However, unlike other plain black teas, I never really considered adding milk to Earl Grey because of the citrusy bergamot flavoring. I just assumed that the milk wouldn’t pair well with that citrus note. So on the occasions when I did order an Earl Grey I just had it black. Nonetheless, earlier this year while out to brunch I finally gave adding milk to my Earl Grey a try. And guess what?! It was delicious! And since then Earl Grey with milk and a bit of sweetener has been one of my go-to breakfast and brunch beverages.
Thanks for reading! Have you ever tried Earl Grey with milk? If so, what did you think? Is there any other tea with milk combination that you thought would be strange, but that turned out to be delicious? Let me know in the comments!
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Blake's Tea Journal 
I’ve never put milk in my Earl Grey and everyone is always so shocked when I tell them that. Its probably more that I was never a fan of milk as a kid and didn’t have the choice of alternatives until I was older.
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Thanks for reading and for sharing your comment!
Although I discovered that I like Earl Grey with milk, it certainly doesn’t require it to be delicious. But since you mentioned milk alternatives I’m kind of curious to see how it would taste with almond or some other nut milk; I bet the nuttiness would pair well with the bergamot.
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I tried this combination, and it was not as bad as i thought. Still not a huge fan of Earl Grey. The best i tasted was the Fortnums Countess Grey tea.
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Ha ha. At least it’s usually nice when something slightly exceeds your expectations, particularly if they were low ones. The Countess Grey tea looks like an interesting blend; thanks for the tip.
Thanks for reading and sharing your experience. Happy tea drinking!
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