Lady Grey Tea with St. Germain

In honor of Women’s History Month, I bring you a hot tea-based cocktail using Lady Grey tea.

You’ve probably heard of Earl Grey tea as it’s one of the most popular English tea varieties. This tea is most likely named for Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey who was the British Prime Minister in the 1830s. It is said that he gave his recipe to Jacksons of Piccadilly in 1830 and that the recipe was carefully guarded and never left their hands until Jacksons was purchased by R. Twinings.

In the 1990s, Twinings created Lady Grey tea and named it for Charles’ wife, Mary Elizabeth Grey. It was made initially to appeal to the Northern European markets who found Earl Grey tea’s flavor to be too strong and is now found worldwide.

Both teas are traditionally black teas that have been flavored with bergamot, a hybrid of lemon and bitter orange. Lady Grey also contains lemon and orange peels. Tea not made by Twinings (often called Empress Grey or Madame Grey as the name is trademarked by Twinings) might also contain cornflower (or bachelor’s button).

While I’ve made and enjoyed many hot coffee-based liquor drinks, it never occurred to me to add alcohol to hot tea (I’m sure my Irish relatives are surprised by this!). This drink is full of flavor but low in alcohol as St. Germain (elderflower liqueur) is considered a cordial and is 20% ABV (whereas vodka is 40% ABV). The floral sweetness of the St. Germain is lovely with the citrus-forward Lady Grey tea. It’s a nice late afternoon or after dinner drink.

Lady Grey led a busy life as an aristocrat, wife of a prime minister and mother of 16 children. She died in 1861. Little did she realize that her name would be attributed to a tea 130 years later.

Can’t find Lady Grey tea? Try Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea instead.

This tea called for a special tea cup so I broke out our wedding china (Lenox’s Presidential Series, Jefferson) from 1995.