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Earl Grey tea

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Tin of Earl Grey tea

Earl Grey tea is a tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit.[1]

Traditionally the term "Earl Grey" was applied only to black tea; however, today the term is used for other teas that contain oil of bergamot, or a flavour.

History

The Earl Grey blend is named after 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s and author of the Reform Bill of 1832, who reputedly received a gift, probably a diplomatic perquisite, of tea flavoured with bergamot oil,[2] taken from bergamot, a citrus fruit typical of Southeast Asia and grown commercially in Italy.[3]

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 has no basis in fact, as Lord Grey never set foot in China[4] 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".[5]

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 China tea since the beginning.[6][7]

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.[8]

Variations

Lady Grey tea leaves

Twinings has a proprietary branded tea variety called "Lady Grey" made with lemon and Seville orange in addition to bergamot. Twinings' Earl Grey and Lady Grey packaging bears the official endorsement and signature of Richard Grey, 6th Earl Grey.[9]

A beverage called "London Fog" is a combination of Earl Grey, steamed milk and vanilla syrup.[10]

There are variations available including such ingredients as jasmine, as well as various flowers.[11]

A "Russian" Earl grey is sold in France and Belgium and made by Lipton. The ingredients state "Black Tea, citrus peels 65%, citrus and bergamote flavouring 5.2%, flower petals 0.5%.

Use as a flavouring

File:Earl Grey KitKat.jpg
Earl Grey flavour Kit Kat from Japan

Earl Grey tea is used as a flavouring for many types of cakes and confectionery, such as chocolates, as well as savoury sauces.[12][13] For sauces, the flavour is normally created by adding tea bags to the basic stock, boiling for a few minutes and then discarding the bags. For sweet recipes, loose tea is often added to melted butter or hot cream and strained after the flavour is infused.[14][15][16]

Toxicology

In several studies, application of high concentrations of some brands of bergamot oil directly to the skin was shown to increase redness after exposure to ultraviolet light;[17][18] however, this should not apply to ordinary oral consumption of Earl Grey tea. Bergamot is a source of bergamottin which, along with the chemically related compound 6’,7’-dihydroxybergamottin, is believed to be responsible for the grapefruit juice effect in which the consumption of the juice affects the metabolism of a variety of pharmaceutical drugs.[3][19]

In one case study, a patient who consumed 4 litres of Earl Grey tea per day reported muscle cramps, which were attributed to the function of the bergapten in bergamot oil as a potassium channel blocker. The symptoms subsided upon reducing his consumption of Earl Grey tea to 1 litre per day.[3][20]

In popular culture

The character Jean-Luc Picard from the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation drinks Earl Grey tea in many episodes. To order the tea Captain Jean-Luc Picard will say to the replicator "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." which has become one of the most notable catch phrases to come out of the show.

Artemis Fowl has a particular liking to Earl Grey tea.

"Weird Al" Yankovic mentions drinking Earl Grey tea in his song "White and Nerdy."

In the Manga/Anime Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) The main character, Ciel Phantomhive, drinks Earl Grey throughout the series. It is even incorporated in to the story line in many ways.

Earl Grey II is the default name of the player's mech in the game Steambot Chronicles.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ben Richardson (6 April 2006). "Bergamot growers get whiff of success". BBC News.
  2. ^ Kramer, Ione. All the Tea in China. China Books, 1990. ISBN 0835121941. Pages 180-181.
  3. ^ a b c Dr Muiris Houston (September 30, 2002). "Have your cuppa, but go easy on the Earl Grey". The Irish Times. ...having read a case report in the Lancet titled: "Earl Grey Tea Intoxication". An Austrian doctor describes the case of a 44-year-old man who suffered muscle cramps. He had been drinking four litres of black tea every day over the past 25 years. However, one week after changing to Earl Grey, he noticed repeated muscle cramps in his right foot. After five weeks the cramps had spread to his left foot, both hands and his left calf ... Convinced that it was the change of tea, he decided to stop drinking Earl Grey and reverted to pure black tea again. One week later, his symptoms had completely disappeared. The solution to this case lies in the composition of Earl Grey tea. As well as black tea leaves, it contains essence of bergamot oil, which has a pleasant, refreshing scent. Bergamot contains the psoralen derivatives bergapten and bergamottin. The adverse effects of bergamot oil in this patient are explained by the action of bergapten as a potassium channel blocker within muscle cells. By interrupting the normal flow of potassium, the cells become hyperexcitable, leading to the visible movements and cramps within the muscles. By drinking four litres a day of Earl Grey (equivalent to at least 16 cups of tea), the Austrian man was simply overdosing on essence of bergamot.
  4. ^ Pettigrew, Jane (2004). The Tea Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide (Connoisseur's Guides). Philadelphia, Pa: Running Press Book Publishers. ISBN 0762421509.
  5. ^ "Earl Grey". Twiningsusashop.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  6. ^ Micky Fenix (July 24, 2008). "More Than Just A Pot Of Tea". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Stephen Twining traced back his family's business to the 1700s, when coffee houses as meeting places were the vogue. How ironic that it was in the company's coffee house where tea was introduced. Earl Grey tea makes Stephen Twining wish he could move back time because the company did not lay claim to the formula, or the name, when they had produced the blend for the British Prime Minister who was known as the second Earl Grey.
  7. ^ Margareta Pagano (July 3, 1985). "The secret of Earl Grey tea is changing hands at last / Sale of Jacksons of Piccadilly to Fitch Lovell food manufacturing group". The Guardian (London). The original secret formula for Earl Grey tea is changing hands after 155 years with its sole proprietors, the Jacksons of Piccadilly tea merchants... with the sale goes the special recipe of the Earl Grey blend which was entrusted to Robert Jackson's partner, George Charlton, in 1830 by the second Earl Grey. To this day the formula—which mixes black China tea with other unknown teas—has remained unaltered.
  8. ^ "Howick Hall website". Howickhallgardens.org. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  9. ^ "Earl Grey Not Just Tea Anymore". Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. 20 December 2000. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  10. ^ Nye, Valerie; Barco, Kathy (2009). Breakfast New Mexico Style. Sunstone Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780865347168. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  11. ^ Cooper, Nathanael (18 October 2008). "Tea for 2 or 2 for tea". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  12. ^ Joachim, David (2001). Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks: 5,000 Ingenious Kitchen Hints, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Solutions. Rodale. p. 502. ISBN 9781579543013. Earl Grey shallot sauce.
  13. ^ Miller, Norman (April 11, 2009). "Why tea is the new spice rack must-have". The Times.
  14. ^ Boyle, Tish (2002). The good cookie: over 250 delicious recipes from simple to sublime. John Wiley and Sons. p. 124. ISBN 9780471387916. Chocolate dipped Earl Grey shortbread wedges.
  15. ^ Schneider, Edward (Jan 16, 2002). "Cooking With Tea; "As for pears, I poached them in Earl Grey, a tea with impeccable prime ministerial credentials."". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  16. ^ Marcus Wareing (1507). "Earl Grey tea cream and Eccles cakes". BBC. Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  17. ^ Girard J, Unkovic J, Delahayes J, Lafille C (1979). [Phototoxicity "of Bergamot oil. Comparison between humans and guinea pigs"]. Dermatologica (in French). 158 (4): 229–43. PMID 428611. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Kejlova K, Jirova D, Bendova H, Kandarova H, Weidenhoffer Z, Kolarova H, Liebsch M (2007). "Phototoxicity of bergamot oil assessed by in vitro techniques in combination with human patch tests". Toxicology in Vitro. 21 (7): 1298–1303. doi:10.1016/j.tiv.2007.05.016. PMID 17669618.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ David G. Bailey, J. Malcolm, O. Arnold, J. David Spence (1998). "Grapefruit juice-drug interactions". Br J Clin Pharmacol. 46 (2): 101–110. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2125.1998.00764.x. PMC 1873672. PMID 9723817.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Finsterer J (2002). "Earl Grey tea intoxication". Lancet. 359 (9316): 1484. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08436-2. PMID 11988248.
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