Fancy drinks can be quick and easy to make at home! This lavender Earl Grey latte takes only a few minutes to make using real, clean, even beneficial ingredients. No fussing around with making a syrup! You can adapt it easily for special diets, too.
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Do you enjoy the occasional special tea or coffee drink? It can be wonderful to indulge in a fancy beverage now and then, especially with a good friend.
It turns out, those pricey, fancy drinks in coffee shops (and tea shops) are pretty easy to make at home. You don’t need many ingredients or special equipment, and that frothy cup of deliciousness can be ready in a few minutes! You don’t even need to make a syrup first.
Not only is it easy and affordable to concoct these indulgences at home, but you can avoid any ingredients you don’t want. Or that you don’t want except on special occasions! Unpronounceable additives, massive amounts of sugar, or even a variety of milk you don’t do well with are so easy to avoid at home!
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What is in a homemade Lavender Earl Grey Latte?
As it happens, you don’t need much to make a lavender Earl Grey latte at home. All you really must have is Earl Grey tea, lavender, and some type of milk.
You might add some extras, like sweetener or vanilla. Or not! You might froth the milk for extra fanciness, or not. This is a simple project. It even has some health benefits!
Earl Grey Tea
As you may know, Earl Grey tea is made with black tea. Bergamot oil added to the tea leaves contributes the unique, refreshing flavor of Earl Grey tea. Bergamot is an orange-lemon hybrid fruit that grows in southeast Asian and Mediterranean areas; the oil extracted from the bergamot peel supplies the flavor that distinguishes Earl Grey tea.
Named for a nineteenth century English prime minister, Earl Grey, this aromatic tea has become popular in England and far beyond. Learn more about Earl Grey tea here.
Traditionally used for fevers and infections, bergamot is known for other health benefits as well. These include mood-lifting, depression and anxiety relief, skin and hair benefits, respiratory and digestive support, and more. Learn what else bergamot does for us here.
Best of all, bergamot tastes delicious!
Lavender
Used for thousands of years for health and cleaning purposes, the Latin name for lavender (lavendula) made its way into Romance languages in association with its cleaning properties. For example, laver in French, lavar in Spanish, and lavare in Italian all mean “to wash”. Indeed, lavender has long enhanced laundry and bathing products with its aroma and disinfecting qualities.
Beyond its cleaning uses, lavender is used for many purposes, including soothing and calming, wound treatment, pain relief, and more. Read more about lavender’s health benefits here.
Many recipes for lavender drinks call for making a simple syrup first. This is a perfectly good way to proceed, and has the advantage that you can store the syrup for future lattes.
Simple syrup is easy to make, but for some reason it seems like a pain! Yes, this is probably a character flaw… Also, I often have a lavender Earl Grey latte without any sweetener. Simple syrup is sweetened.
You can use lavender buds to make this lavender Earl Grey latte. I bought bag of organic, food-grade (culinary) lavender buds years ago and have been storing them in Mason jars and slowly using them ever since! Unfortunately, I don’t remember the brand, but it was something like this.
You can also find lavender buds in the spice section at the grocery store. The quantity is usually small, so the price is high per serving, but if you don’t use lavender often, that might be a good way to go.
What else can I do with lavender buds?
Not sure how to use lavender buds once you have them?
- make lavender lemonade– just add a teaspoon or more of lavender buds to the hot water with the sugar when making lemonade, then strain them out after 5 minutes or so
- make a plain lavender tea, possibly adding lemon and/or honey
- combine lavender with other herbs for tea (lemon balm, peppermint, raspberry leaf, etc.)
- make baked goods with it, like these cookies or these scones— perfect to serve with your lavender Earl Grey latte!
- mix up your own jar of herbes de Provence
Milk
You could make a lovely tea with nothing more than Earl Grey tea and lavender. Simple, delicious, and beneficial. If you prefer, do that!
If you want a latte, though, you need some sort of milk. I use raw milk in mine. However, you could use regular milk or any type of milk you like– coconut, oat, almond, etc. You could even use cream instead of milk, adjusting the quantities so that you have more tea and less cream than the amount of milk in the recipe.
What if I don’t want to use black tea?
If black tea is not your thing, you could try other Earl Grey (bergamot-enhanced) options. You can substitute green Earl Grey tea for green tea benefits or rooibos Earl Grey for caffeine free with the many benefits of rooibos, for example.
Presumably, it would work fine to add a drop of food-grade bergamot oil to whatever tea you like. I have not tried it, though. Please let me know how it goes if you try it!
Other ways to make a (not-Earl Grey but still delicious) lavender tea latte without black tea could feature the following herbal teas in place of black tea:
- chamomile– also soothing with other health benefits
- lemon balm– delicious and good for anxiety, infections, and more
- raspberry leaf– similar to a black tea flavor with benefits for women’s health, among other things
- any herbal tea you love that sounds good with lavender!
Should I use tea bags or loose tea?
Either will work!
Tea bags are readily available and convenient. One tea bag is about right for one serving. Ideally, the tea should be fairly strong, since the milk will dilute it.
Loose tea is a good option as well. A teaspoon or two works for one serving; the amount can vary a little by brand. Also, loose tea has the advantage of lacking a tea bag. Tea bags tend to include contaminants. Typically, loose tea is the choice of tea enthusiasts.
A disadvantage of loose tea is that you have to strain it; in this recipe, you will need to strain out the lavender, anyway, so straining isn’t really an added disadvantage.
How to Make a Lavender Earl Grey Latte
This time, I used an organic Earl Grey tea bag from Thrive Market!
Heat water to nearly boiling. Measure about 3/4 cup and steep the Earl Grey tea and the lavender buds in it for about 5 minutes. Make it fairly strong; the milk will dilute the flavor. You can experiment with how much of each to use. I find that a teaspoon of lavender buds is just right.
If you aren’t so sure about lavender, maybe start with half a teaspoon or even less. Some people just aren’t crazy about the flavor of lavender. If it tastes like soap to you, use less or try rose petals instead.
While your tea steeps, heat half a cup of milk gently until it steams. You can froth it if you like!
Frothing is not necessary and doesn’t add to the flavor. It seems kind of fun and fancy, though. I made my drinks without one until just after Christmas this year, when I bought one at Hobby Lobby for $4. I have been having a little too much fun with it ever since!
If you don’t have a frother and want a similar effect, try whisking very vigorously with a whisk, use an immersion blender to fluff the milk up, or even whiz it in a regular blender briefly.
Once your tea is brewed, strain the solids out and pour it into a mug. If you want, sweeten it a little. I like a touch of honey, but sugar or a sugar substitute will also work.
I used this pretty tea strainer from Thrive Market, but any sieve or strainer with small holes will work.
Pour the milk over the tea and serve right away!
Lavender Earl Grey Latte
Equipment
- 1 strainer
- 1 milk frother optional
Ingredients
- 1-2 tsp loose Earl Grey tea or 1 Earl Grey tea bag
- 1/2- 1 tsp lavender buds
- 3/4 C almost-boiling water
- 1/2 C hot milk of choice
- sweetener to taste optional
Instructions
- Heat water nearly to boiling. Pour over tea (or tea bag) and lavender buds. Allow to steep for 5 minutes.
- While the tea brews, warm the milk. Don't allow it to boil. Optionally, use a milk frother, whisk, immersion blender or blender to make the milk frothy.
- Pour the tea and lavender buds though a strainer into a mug. Sweeten if desired with honey, sugar, or a sugar substitute.
- Pour the milk over the tea and serve immediately.
Varying your Lavender Earl Grey Latte
You can make all sorts of changes to the basic recipe to suit your taste, dietary needs, or whims.
- swap the Earl Grey for other teas or herbs– see suggestions above
- use whatever type of milk you normally like
- skip the sweetening
- use honey (the best, in my opinion) or any type of sugar you want
- add a touch of vanilla for added flavor
- serve chilled for an iced lavender Earl Grey latte
Don’t put lavender buds on your latte! They will be annoying. I scooped mine off after I finished taking pictures.
Want more latte inspiration? Check these out:
An early grey tea latte is my all time favorite tea drink. Thanks for sharing your recipe!