I'm not British, but I can't imagine drinking Earl Grey anyway other than black.
Ok Brits, Earl Grey... milk, lemon, or black?
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The cup I hated the least was one with lavender...
It has to be black or you aint a Brit.
Despite what the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation would have you believe, Earl Grey is generally considered tea for people that don't like tea. It's quite hard-to-find at decent (college, hotel) afternoon teas.
You asked.
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
You asked.
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
I don't know if I'd go as far as Hobbesoxon, but certainly, I don't think many people take Earl Grey as their regular tea. I have maybe 2-4 cups a week, maybe less. Generally I take it with milk, occasionally without; it does work better black than regular tea (less tannin or something?).
Just to clarify on the other question about what Brits do drink, for the most part, our staple tea is just, well, tea as far as we're concerned. The stuff that's sold and drunk in bulk is, I think, a mixed blend of various black teas. If you want a flavour of it, try and get hold of something like PG Tips, Tetley or Typhoo, or Yorkshire Tea if you want to be slightly more upmarket about it. The idea of there being more than one kind of tea is a relatively novel one for most British teadrinkers, and one that we still don't have that much truck with for the most part. 'English Breakfast' is about as close as you'll get to our generic 'normal tea', but its not quite the same, somehow.
Of the more exotic Indian varieties, Darjeeling is probably more interesting than Earl Grey, but it's rather fiddly to get it quite right.
Just to clarify on the other question about what Brits do drink, for the most part, our staple tea is just, well, tea as far as we're concerned. The stuff that's sold and drunk in bulk is, I think, a mixed blend of various black teas. If you want a flavour of it, try and get hold of something like PG Tips, Tetley or Typhoo, or Yorkshire Tea if you want to be slightly more upmarket about it. The idea of there being more than one kind of tea is a relatively novel one for most British teadrinkers, and one that we still don't have that much truck with for the most part. 'English Breakfast' is about as close as you'll get to our generic 'normal tea', but its not quite the same, somehow.
Of the more exotic Indian varieties, Darjeeling is probably more interesting than Earl Grey, but it's rather fiddly to get it quite right.
Milk for me, that's what I grew up with.
I used to like EG back when I was a teenager. Tea seemed a 'veddy heengleesh' drink, and EG the most heengleeshest of them all.
Now, I much prefer to not have the bergamont getting in the way.
... to pick up on Hobbes' point, if you are drinking EG, it's like drinking flavoured coffee ... you need something to cut the taste of the base ingredient ... so go whole-hog and do milk & sugar.
Now, I much prefer to not have the bergamont getting in the way.
... to pick up on Hobbes' point, if you are drinking EG, it's like drinking flavoured coffee ... you need something to cut the taste of the base ingredient ... so go whole-hog and do milk & sugar.
Just to be different 001_tt2, I can't stand the stuff. Horrid thing to do to a leaf
. Instead, I drink coffee 
OK, NOW I'm looking for hard cover, a flak vest, and a helmet
001_tt2, I can't stand the stuff. Horrid thing to do to a leaf. Instead, I drink coffee OK, NOW I'm looking for hard cover, a flak vest, and a helmet
Despite what the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation would have you believe, Earl Grey is generally considered tea for people that don't like tea. It's quite hard-to-find at decent (college, hotel) afternoon teas.
You asked.
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
I find that interesting that its hard to find.
Jean-Luc Picard was French, so I really think he should have been a coffee drinker.
I am a big fan of Star Trek:TNG, and even though its a stupid reason, it is why I tried EG in the first place. I really enjoy EG, as well as other types of tea.
I drink all tea straight.
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
I like it with milk whenever I drink it, which is rarely. I prefer a mug of good strong black tea with milk and sugar. I'm English but I live in Russia now and they love their tea here. But it's all this poncy fruit tea nonsense. Ok, it can be quite refreshing like green tea, and they love brewing it in teapots and make social gatherings out of it, but it's not really for me. In fact, we English are supposed to be very sensitive and refined when it comes to tea; like the French with wine. I think that's rubbish. We drink strong black tea with milk and love it. I have to stick two bags in me mug over here cos it's not strong enough.
Here's the definitive answer on serving English tea from HYACINTH BUCKETS BOOK OF BETTER-CLASS BRITISH COOKERY (For the Socially Unfortunate)
And you may do like I do when you have your neighbour to Tea: Serve your Earl Grey (the only sort of Tea one should ever find on the premises of an upmarket household like mine) from your everyday china Tea set. Provide milk and sugar for those who want it and if youre feeling a bit festive, you may offer a plate of lemon wedges (accompanied by a fruit fork please!) Your biscuits are always the tinned sort and there is no need for the biscuit tin to display either the Royal Warrant or the Union Jack. Put a few biscuits out on a plate. And thats all there is too it: A Casual Tea for a Neighbour. And dont forget the doily!
And you may do like I do when you have your neighbour to Tea: Serve your Earl Grey (the only sort of Tea one should ever find on the premises of an upmarket household like mine) from your everyday china Tea set. Provide milk and sugar for those who want it and if youre feeling a bit festive, you may offer a plate of lemon wedges (accompanied by a fruit fork please!) Your biscuits are always the tinned sort and there is no need for the biscuit tin to display either the Royal Warrant or the Union Jack. Put a few biscuits out on a plate. And thats all there is too it: A Casual Tea for a Neighbour. And dont forget the doily!
My Grandmother from Cornwall, introduced me to tea as a child. She told me a "good Englishman, puts two spots of cream, two cubes of sugar in his tea"
I have drink tea pretty much that way since minus the sugar cubes.
I have drink tea pretty much that way since minus the sugar cubes.
With Milk.
EG is my favourite tea but I can only manage to drink it at the weekends - the rest of the time its out of a machine.
Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
EG is my favourite tea but I can only manage to drink it at the weekends - the rest of the time its out of a machine.
Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
In the final episode, just before whatever final showdown with the entire enemy fleet (was it the Romulans? I forget. Oh, Klingons. I think that was it.) he should have ordered ...
"Tea. Lukewarm. Strong, with lots of milk and sugar. And a double dose of cheap scotch."
(drinks tea in one gulp, wipes mouth with back of hand)
"Aaaahh! Now let's get those m----- f------ Klingons! (sings) Here we go, here we go, here we go! Here we go, here we go, here we go-oo! Come on Number One ya great Pansy! Here we go, here we go, here we go! ... "
(Oh, and on the subject of the Brits and how they drink stuff, my Dad tells the story of him in London with his parents back in the '60s ... at their hotel for breakfast. My Dad likes his coffee with a little bit of cream and sugar. He asks for coffee. The waitress comes to the table with two silver coffee posts "black or 'arf an' 'arf, dear?" A moment of cross-cultural confusion later, he's sitting there with a cup half full of coffee and half full of cream, and luke-warm at best. ... Not his favourite cup of coffee of all time.
)
This is how we drink it:
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LOL nice. I'm not crazy about EG either. I used to like it as a kid.. but not so much as an adult.
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