London Fog Drink
Updated Aug 16, 2026
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Made with Earl Grey tea and warm milk, this London Fog drink is a delicious tea latte with hints of vanilla and lavender. Make this London Fog drink at home with this simple 8-minute recipe.
London Fog Drink (Earl Grey Tea Latte)
A London fog drink, or an Earl Grey tea latte, is made with Earl Grey tea and frothed milk. It’s a popular drink in the Northwest and thought to have originated in Vancouver, Canada.
- London Fog drinks are made with Earl Grey (black tea flavored with bergamot, a citrus fruit from Italy), milk, vanilla extract, and sugar.
- At Starbucks, the London Fog drink uses Earl Grey tea with a hint of lavender. This recipe recreates the drink by using dried lavender.
- London Fog drinks contain caffeine from the black tea.
Ingredient Notes
- Earl Grey tea: Earl Grey is the star of this drink and it can’t be called a London Fog without it. You can use loose tea, tea bags, or sachets.
- Brown sugar: White sugar also works, but brown sugar adds richer sweetness due to the molasses.
- Vanilla extract: A flavor enhancer that makes this drink extra delicious.
- Dried lavender: The standard London Fog drink is made without lavender so feel free to take this out but I like it with. Always use food-grade lavender.
- Milk: You can use any milk you prefer. But know that not all milk will froth as well as whole or 2% milk.
- Water: For the best flavor, use filtered water.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Boil water on the stovetop or use an electric kettle with a temperature setting. (Set the kettle to 208°F).
Combine tea, lavender buds, and hot water in a teapot. Cover and steep.
Step 2: Strain tea leaves and pour tea into a cup. Stir in sugar and vanilla extract.
Step 3: Heat milk and froth using a French press or a handheld milk frother until it nearly doubles in volume. With a French press, pump the lid plunger 30-40 times. Make sure to hold down the lid of the French press so that you don’t make a mess when pumping.
Step 4: Pour frothed milk into the cup with tea.
Expert Tips
- To froth milk at home, another option is to use an electric milk frother which heats milk and froths at the same time.
- If you don’t have lavender, feel free to make it without. It’s still delicious!
- To microwave the milk, heat 30 seconds at a time in a microwave-safe cup.
- Always add vanilla extract last since you don’t want it to cook down and evaporate. The flavor will be weaker if it’s hot for too long.
Related
- Starbucks London Fog Tea Latte
- Chamomile Tea Latte
- Rooibos Tea Latte
- Iced Earl Grey Tea Latte
- Earl Grey Hot Chocolate
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London Fog Drink (Earl Grey Tea Latte)
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea, (or 2 tea bags or sachets)
- ¼ teaspoon dried lavender, + extra for garnish
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk, (any kind)
Instructions
- Boil water on the stovetop or use an electric kettle with a temperature setting (water set to 208°F). Use filtered water for a better tasting tea.
- Combine tea, lavender, and hot water in a teapot. Cover teapot and steep for 5 minutes.
- Strain solids and stir in sugar and vanilla extract. Pour tea into 2 cups.
- Heat milk and froth using a French press or a handheld milk frother.Heat milk on the stovetop by simmering on low then turning off the heat. Keep careful watch to make sure the milk doesn't come to a boil. Stir occasionally.If using the French press, fill the French press no more than halfway with milk. You want to leave room since the milk will double in volume.If using the handheld milk frother, whisk for about a minute until it increases in volume.
- Pour frothed milk into the cups with tea.Optional: Garnish with lavender.
Notes
- You can take out the dried lavender if you wish since the drink is still delicious without it.
- Always use food-grade lavender.
- To microwave the milk, heat 30 seconds at a time in a microwave-safe cup.
- Make sure to hold down the lid of the French press so that you don’t make a mess when pumping.
- Add vanilla extract last since you don’t want it to cook down and evaporate. The flavor will be weaker if it’s hot for too long.
- You can use white sugar if you don’t have any brown sugar, but the brown sugar adds a richer sweetness due to the molasses.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Quick question: at first in the step-by-step it says 1 tablespoon for every 2 cups of water, but then the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon for 1 1/4 cups of water… confused as to how much it is!
Hi Moe, thanks for catching that! Will fixE It’s 1 tablespoon to make 2 cups of London Fog and you’ll need 1 1/4 cup of water total to make the 2 cups.
As usual, ☕ALL HAIL, THE TEA QUEEN, THE BEAUTIFUL, BRILLIANT JEE!!☕
This is, far and away my latte – and earl grey – fave!!
**Side note: Shortcut: tried the recipe w/ Harney & Sons “Victorian London Fog” tea (Black tea, lavender buds, vanilla); Brown sugar; Using the french press (milk). Voila! London Fog Latte! *HOWEVER, yours was the best. Harney (Amazing flavored teas!) used vanilla flavour – your natural vanilla makes your recipe the winner. ☕
Haha, thanks, Jess!
Have you ever tried frothing almond or coconut milk? I haven’t been able to make them foaming and I wonder if I’m just doing something wrong.
Hi R, I have and it definitely doesn’t foam as well as regular milk. Have you tried frothing it with a French press?
It’s the fat in the milk that creates the froth. Skim milk doesn’t froth that great either.
Thanks for the tip, Katie!
I love Earl Grey and stumbled across this recipe when looking for some new tea bags. Oh. My. God. Delicious. I don’t understand why this isn’t a thing in actual London, never seen it anywhere. Will be making this for everyone I know.
Just tried this and it’s great! I normally order a London Fog at any coffee shop I go to so it’s nice to be able to make it at home. I was only making one (for myself) and used the French press method to froth the milk. It was a bit tricky with less milk but did the job well enough. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Kelly, happy you tried making it! I use a smaller French press when froth milk for one cup.
So easy. I must try!!!
Just made this and it was delicious! I love your recipes.
I would appreciate it so much if you would give us the tea measurement in grams, instead of a TBL. It’s more accurate and I enjoy using my scale for my tea recipes – thanks!
Hi Beth, I agree that grams are much more accurate than tablespoons, but with most of my recipes, it doesn’t need to be so exact and not a lot of people have scales to work with which is why I opted to write out the recipes in tablespoons. But I’ll think about it for future recipes!
So I stumbled onto this, and made it on a whim, so good, I’m so excited I get one of these almost everyday, now I’m wondering what else I can do. Thanks so much.
Hi Amanda, so happy you made it and liked it!
Just so you know, I worked at Starbucks and Teavana for a long time and there’s zero lavender in the Teavana Earl Grey. The Starbucks London Fog is just Earl Grey Tea, hot water, steamed milk and vanilla syrup. No lavender at all
Hi Isaac, I didn’t think the Starbucks had lavender in their London Fog but according to their site, lavender flowers are listed as an ingredient as a part of the tea infusion that also includes black tea, water, and bergamot essence.