London Fog Recipe (Starbucks Copycat) - Dessert for Two (2024)

London fog drink is a cozy cup of Earl Grey tea spiced with vanilla and honey, and topped with steamed foamy milk. You'll feel like you're walking on foggy clouds as you sip this cold weather tea latte that warms you up from the inside out.

If there ever was a drink that was the epitome of sweater weather, it's the London fog tea latte. While sipping on this beverage, you will hear dried fall leaves crunching under your feet and a crackling fireplace in the distance. It tastes like a hug on the first crisp Fall after a long hot summer. Make this on your first cool weather day, and you will fall in love!

You would also like my Gingerbread Latte or my Chai Hot Chocolate to stay warm!

Other names for a London fog:

1. Earl Grey Latte
2. Tea Latte
3. Earl Grey Lavender Latte
4. London Fog Latte

I've seen London Fog drink on the Starbucks menu, and I have to order it every time. At Starbucks, it's basically double-strength Earl Grey tea sweetened with vanilla syrup and topped with foamed milk. And while that's great, I had a London Fog drink with lavender syrup instead of vanilla at a small coffee shop, and it was even better. The delicate flavors of Bergamot-scented Earl Grey tea combined with vanilla and lavender is just so good, you have to try it! (My other go-to order is a Starbucks Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino).

This earl grey tea latte is for tea lovers that love their tea sweet with a milk. If you love Earl Grey tea like I do, seek out a double-strength version that includes double the does of fragrant Bergamot. If you're wondering what Bergamot is, it's a tropical citrus fruit that has notes of orange but with a distinct tartness. It's almost as if an orange and a lime combined, but with an extra dose of perfume, because Begamot is known for being extra floral and fragrant.

What's in a London Fog?

Simply put, a London fog recipe is steeped tea combined with sweetened, frothed milk. It's like a vanilla latte, but made with tea instead of coffee. Here is the cold version: Iced London Fog tea latte recipe.

How to Make a London Fog Drink

With just a few tea bags, honey, vanilla extract, and your milk of choice, you can have this cozy drink in minutes. This recipe below makes two Earl Grey tea lattes, but you can scale it up, as needed.

What is in a London Fog?

• Earl Grey Tea. My preference for tea is always loose-leaf tea, because the leaves are larger and they have more room to unfurl and release flavors when they're not constrained to a tea bag. We need 2 teaspoons of loose Earl Grey tea for this London fog drink recipe, but you may substitute two tea bags. If you can find double-strength or double-Bergamot Earl Grey tea, grab that.
• Milk. Your milk of choice here, but note that cow's milk and oat milk are going to get the foamiest results.
• Vanilla Extract. A small splash of real vanilla extract is the signature addition to a London Fog drink.
• Honey. The best type of sweetener to use is one that dissolves easily in warm liquids, like honey, but you can use regular granulated sugar as long as you stir it together until it fully dissolves.

How to make a London Fog

1. Gather all ingredients needed: the tea, water for steeping the tea, milk, vanilla and honey.
   
2. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a tea kettle or in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Add both tea bags or the 2 teaspoons of loose leaf tea, and let steep for 5 minutes. Black tea is always made with freshly boiled water and allowed to steep for 5 minutes. If you steep it for too long, it can develop a bitter taste, so be sure to set a timer.
3. After 5 minutes, remove the tea bags or strain out the loose tea, and divide the mixture between two serving mugs.
   
4. Finally, combine the milk, honey and vanilla in a milk frother, and froth until velvety and very voluminous. If you don't have a way to froth milk, you can do it in a small saucepan on the stove and whisk is very well. Or, you can warm everything together in the microwave, and then add it to a blender to froth, but BE CAREFUL. Leave the lid of the blender cracked so steam can escape.
5. Divide the frothed milk mixture between the two glasses, and serve immediately.

London Fog Tea Latte Variations

• You can use any type of milk in this London Fog drink, from cow's milk, nut milk, coconut milk, or oat milk. Just make sure the milk has enough fat in it to foam properly and create a velvet-like texture. Sometimes, almond milk lacks fat, so I add a teaspoon of melted coconut oil to it before heating.
• It's possible to use any type of tea here, and make your own custom tea latte. The flavors of honey and vanilla go with so many different types of tea, from plain black tea, jasmine green tea, or even a rooibos red tea. Just follow the same method and you'll have any flavor tea latte you like.
• This recipe makes 2 lattes, but you can scale it down or scale it up, depending on how much you need.
• To make this an iced London Fog drink, let the brewed tea cool completely in the fridge (you can do this a day ahead). Then, skip the milk frothing and pour the milk and vanilla directly into the chilled tea. To sweetened a cold drink, use a simple syrup or quickly dissolve honey in warm water and allow to cool before stirring in to the drink. Then, add a scoop of ice and a straw before serving. You might like my frozen Earl Grey Latte Popsicles.
• You can also add lavender to this recipe to make it even more fragrant and floral! The flavor of lavender is so good with Earl Grey tea! Add ½ teaspoon of culinary dried lavender buds when brewing the tea. The reason we use 'culinary' lavender is so they're food safe and not for decoration and sprayed with chemical perfume. Check out my lavender cookies, too.

-Milk Frother. The one I love is linked. This is an essential tool in any kitchen to make coffee shop drinks at home. You need it to make my caramel latte at home, as well.

-Tea Kettle. This is totally optional, but it's a lot nicer way to bring water to a boil than using the microwave. Plus, I love that I can keep it filled and just hit 'ON' to bring water to boil quickly.

-Tea Strainer. If you're using loose leaf tea, this is a great way to let it steep freely in plenty of water, but also quick and easy to remove. I prefer to use this over tea bags, because it lets the large tea leaves unfurl in plenty of a space.

How to serve a London Fog Tea Latte (Iced or Hot)

I have a recipe for anIced London Fog, and a recipe for a hot version, calledLondon Fog drink. Both recipes contain double-strength Earl Grey tea, your milk of choice, plus a sweetener. The only difference between the hot and cold version is that the iced version contains ice and requires a brief chill time for the brewed tea.

London Fog Drink FAQs

What is a dirty London Fog?

Anytime a drink at a coffee shop is called 'dirty', it means they add a shot of espresso. I absolutely love to add a shot of espresso to my chai latte recipe to make a dirty chai. You can do it with this London Fog drink, too. Just don't blame me for the extra boost of caffeine-induced productivity!

Does this London fog recipe have caffeine in it?

Yes, all black tea contains caffeine. You can seek out caffeine-free Earl Grey tea bags, if you need to!