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Tea Time
Tea Cups Up!
Earl Grey About the Tea & the Man
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Who first invented the wonderful blend of tea we call Earl Grey?
Why did we call it that?
What about the man?
The Earl Grey blend, or "Earl Grey's Mixture", is assumed to be named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s and author of the Reform Bill of 1832 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. He reputedly received a gift, probably a diplomatic perquisite, of tea flavoured with bergamot oil as a result of his ending the monopoly held by the East India Company on trade between Britain and China. A "Grey's Tea" is known from the 1850s, but the first known published references to an "Earl Grey" tea are advertisements by Charlton & Co. of Jermyn Street in London in the 1880s.According to one legend, a grateful Chinese mandarin whose son was rescued from drowning by one of Lord Grey's men first presented the blend to the Earl in 1803. The tale appears to be apocryphal, as Lord Grey never set foot in China and the use of bergamot oil to scent tea was then unknown in China. However, this tale is subsequently told (and slightly corrected) on the Twinings website, as "having been presented by an envoy on his return from China".
According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family seat in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the preponderance 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, which is how Twinings came to market it as a brand.
According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family seat in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the preponderance 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, which is how Twinings came to market it as a brand.
Jacksons of Piccadilly claim they originated Earl Grey's Tea, Lord Grey having given the recipe to Robert Jackson & Co. partner George Charlton in 1830. According to Jacksons, the original recipe has been in constant production and has never left their hands. Theirs has been based on Chinese black tea since the beginning.
Records from the 19th century suggest that a tea merchant by the name of William Grey created earl grey tea. William Grey advertised his "celebrated Grey's mixture in publications from the time, and may have popularized the blend.
A 2010 survey found that a significant minority of people in the United Kingdom associate drinking Earl Grey tea with being "posh" or upper class.
In 2012 researchers at the Oxford English Dictionary found the earliest reference to Earl Grey, referring to a bergamot flavoured tea from 1824 that seemed to be used to enhance the taste of low quality teas.agraph to your block, write your own text and edit me.
A 2010 survey found that a significant minority of people in the United Kingdom associate drinking Earl Grey tea with being "posh" or upper class.
In 2012 researchers at the Oxford English Dictionary found the earliest reference to Earl Grey, referring to a bergamot flavoured tea from 1824 that seemed to be used to enhance the taste of low quality teas.agraph to your block, write your own text and edit me.
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