Lord Earl Grey

Earl Grey tea is a floral and citrus based tea, and was named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s and author of the Reform Bill of 1832. The Earl reputedly received a gift of an unusual tea flavored with bergamot oil. According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese Mandarin-speaking individual for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family home in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the presence of lime in the local water.

Lady Grey used it to entertain in London as a political hostess, and it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others. Earl Grey tea is a strong fragrant black tea mixed with an unusual addition of oil from the rind of Bergamot orange. This provides the unique flavor that has made it so popular. The flavor is a mixture of floral, citrus and bitter with a full bodied, malty black tea.