This is the that part of the newsletter that, two years ago, I advertised as a publication that would feature “this and that,” and be “never timely.”
10-seconds of updates from the last 5 months: I ran an 8-person education design lab, I obtained another film camera, I’m making an effort to write again, I walked at graduation on May 13th, and I recently visited my favorite café in the US.
Inconveniently for me, that café is located in suburban New Hampshire. I was in the neighborhood for my high school reunion, and I began to wonder if the drinks were really as good as I recalled; surely my reverence for their drinks was a trick of my maudlin memory. At great risk to my nostalgia, I ordered a London Fog to learn the truth.
The tea latte was just as satisfying as I remembered: the springy smell of Earl Grey perfumed each sip while the depth of the tea and the cream in the oat milk grounded the sweet vanilla sugar. I returned to the counter, teetering sheepishly on the balls of my feet. "I'll probably be back next in five years," I entreated. "I can't wait that long for another." Graciously, generously, the barista smiled and told me how to make it.
Start with great tea
Pick one of the following three options for tea. The quality of the tea itself is what makes this recipe delicious; don’t even think about ripping open a bunch of Tazo tea bags. If you happen to especially like breakfast teas, you can purchase extra ounces to keep around for regular brewing (there's about 2 oz to a gallon of tea concentrate in this recipe) and save on shipping.
Mem Tea Blue Flower Earl Grey (their choice)
Adagio Earl Grey Bravo (bright)
Adagio Earl Grey Moonlight (creamy)
Make the tea concentrate
Steep 50g of loose leaf Earl Grey tea in 1 gallon of water for 30 minutes. You can steep it longer to depeen the taste, but you’ll sacrifice that bright, woody springiness of the tea’s aromatic molecules as you cook the leaves. Because my equipment is pretty small and nylon steeping bags emit microplastics, I steep 25g in 1/2 gallon or 12.5g in 1/4 gallon. You can keep your concentrate in a repurposed jug or jar in the fridge for a month or two.
Mix the drink
Prepare 2 parts Earl Grey concentrate (I microwave it).
Pour in 1 part steamed¹ mix of quality oat milk² and heavy cream (ratio them according to your taste).
Gently mix in 2+ tablespoons vanilla syrup, which you can make easily³ in 10 minutes.
If you wanted to get even fancier, you can zest an orange into the cream.
I remade it in my parent’s kitchen today, with slight alterations. Plain and simple, it brought me joy. I sipped it quietly, watching the rain batter the spruce trees in our backyard. The thing is, I like being a café regular. I love the din of unfamiliar voices and sitting by myself in the company of a revolving crowd. But there’s some understated magic in starting your day with something warm and delicious at home. Making a morning drink is the mechanical nurture of something small, something you have control over. It can be an act of love for yourself and someone you love, which gives meaning to an early rise. It’s similar to the feeling I get from making my bed right when I wake up, but better—you can’t drink your bedsheets.
Okay, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
Toenotes
¹ How to steam milk: Don't boil it on the stove. The cheapest reliable steamer you can get on Amazon is $30, or you could get this tiny $9 frother and froth your milk mix after warming it up.
² Quality oat milk: Califia Farms Oat (Barista Blend, Extra Creamy), Oatly (Full Fat), Kirkland (will need more heavy cream), or make your own using oats and a clean t-shirt
³ Make vanilla simple syrup: Mix 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar on the stove. When it boils, stir it until it gets slightly thicker (10mins max). Add 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract OR vanilla paste. Once it cools, it can live on your counter in a jar or a bottle like this.
I recommend infusing a vanilla bean into the syrup rather than incorporating extract or paste.
1. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise and pull out seeds, set aside
2. Mix 1 cup water 1 cup sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds on stove
3. Stir until thicker (same as your recipe)
4. Leave vanilla in until cool (or just leave in indefinitely for stronger flavor)
5. Jar, etc.
This should keep about a month. Simple syrups with 2:1 sugar:water ratios last much longer, but they're harder to pour (higher viscosity) and figuring out the recipe adjustment can be difficult.