Where the London Fog Comes From
Despite the name it was invented in Vancouver in the 1990s, an Earl Grey steamed with milk and vanilla for a customer who could not drink coffee while pregnant. Starbucks added it to the US board as the London Fog Tea Latte and it has stayed while other tea lattes came and went.
The bergamot in the Earl Grey Tea is what makes it work. Its citrus edge cuts through the milk and vanilla so the drink tastes floral rather than sweet, and it is why the same build with English Breakfast tea tastes flat by comparison.
How It Is Built and Sized
Two Earl Grey sachets go into a small amount of hot water to steep concentrated, vanilla syrup is pumped in, and steamed 2% milk fills the cup with a little foam on top. It runs on the hot sizes: Short, Tall, Grande and Venti.
| Item | Short | Tall | Grande | Venti |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Fog Latte | 90 cal | 140 cal | 180 cal | 230 cal |
The sugar, 29 g in a Grande, is roughly half lactose from the milk and half vanilla syrup. Protein is 7 g and fat 4 g. Caffeine stays at 40 mg from Tall up because the tea bags do not scale past two.
London Fog vs Chai Latte vs Iced London Fog
| Drink | Tea base | Grande calories | Grande sugar | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Fog Latte | Earl Grey, vanilla | 180 | 29 g | 40 mg |
| Chai Latte | Spiced black tea concentrate | 200 | 31 g | 55 mg |
| Iced London Fog Latte | Earl Grey, vanilla, over ice | 140 | 25 g | 40 mg |
The chai latte is the sweeter, spicier cousin and the bigger seller. The London Fog is the lighter of the two on calories and reads as more of a tea. The iced version drops calories because ice takes the place of some milk.
Ways to Order It
- Fewer pumps: a Grande gets four pumps of vanilla; two makes it a tea with a hint of sweetness.
- Sugar-free vanilla: nearly all the added sugar goes with it.
- Oat or almond milk: both suit the bergamot; oat is the popular one. This makes the drink dairy free, since there is no foam topping to worry about.
- Extra tea bag: a stronger, more perfumed cup for no extra calories.
- No foam: some people prefer it flat, closer to the original Vancouver build.
- Lavender: a pump of lavender syrup on top of the vanilla is a common request in spring.
Who Orders the London Fog
Tea drinkers who want something creamy, coffee drinkers cutting back on caffeine, and anyone who finds chai too sweet. At 40 mg it carries less than a third of a Grande latte's caffeine, and it is one of the few hot milk drinks that can be made fully dairy free with a single swap. It declares none declared beyond milk and is steamed on the shared wand.