Clem's Earl Grey tea

Earl Grey tea is a black tea which is infused with the oil of bergamot (essential oil from the bergamot orange). Although popularly thought to be named after Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey, research has shown this to be unlikely.

As Earl Grey tea is one of my favourite morning or afternoon teas, I decided to see if I can replicate the classical taste by using dried peel of the bergamot orange (bought from Bergamot Australia Pty. Ltd., Melbourne). I initially tried putting in a peel in tea as it is brewing and found the taste totally different (bitter) from my reference of Twinnings Earl Grey Tea. Later, I decided to try infusing the scent of the bergamot into tea leaves by storing peels with tea leaves in a container. After a few weeks, I tried brewing the leaves without the peel and found the taste quite to my liking and which approximated the Twinnings version. Thus, if you would like to also try this method, place a generous helping of peels into a batch of black tea (I used Twinnings Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea) and store it in a suitable tea container for several weeks before testing. Take care not to over- infuse as the tea may take on a bitter taste from the bergamot.

Black tea stored with dried bergamot peel