Starbucks Iced London Fog Tea Latte Copycat Recipe

Starbucks Iced London Fog Tea Latte

The Iced London Fog Tea Latte at Starbucks is perhaps one of the best kept secrets. This delightful iced tea latte is earl grey tea combined with milk and vanilla, served over ice.

The base of the latte is double-strength, brewed tea made from Teavana Earl Grey tea bags. Teavana list the ingredients in this blend as black tea, bergamot essence and lavender flowers.

Here’s how Starbucks describes their Iced London Fog Latte:

Bright, citrusy spark of bergamot blends with subtle hints of lavender and mixes with vanilla syrup, milk and ice to create this delicious reinvention of a classic Earl Grey tea.

Starbucks

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• Simple to make. If you can brew tea bags in hot water, then you can make an Iced London Fog tea latte. It’s just as easy to make this drink at home as it is to order it from Starbucks.
• Makes a satisfying iced tea. This tea latte is nearly half milk so it’s more full-bodied and filling than regular iced tea.
• It’s caffeinated. London Fog lattes are specifically made with earl grey tea which is mainly a blend of black tea and bergamot (a type of citrus). Since black tea is caffeinated, this iced latte gives you a little boost.
• Make it iced or hot. Once you have the ingredients for an iced London Fog, you can also make a hot London Fog. Here’s how to make the hot version: Starbucks London Fog Latte copycat recipe.

RELATED: Starbucks London Fog Latte: What’s in It & How to Order

Ingredients

Starbucks makes the Iced London Fog Tea Latte with freshly-brewed Earl Grey tea, 2% milk, vanilla syrup and ice. The tea latte is shaken to cool it down and incorporate the flavors.

Here are the 5 ingredients you need to make a copycat at home.

• Earl Grey tea bags
• Hot Water
• Vanilla syrup
• Milk
• Ice

Earl Grey Tea: Earl Grey tea is a must, otherwise it wouldn’t be a London Fog!

You can use tea bags or loose leaf tea.

Starbucks uses Teavana Earl Grey, but it’s not sold in stores so use your favorite brand. I use Harney and Sons.

Lattes are made with concentrated tea, so you need double the amount of tea than what you would normally use for a cup of hot tea.

Vanilla Syrup: The sweetener of choice for a London Fog is vanilla syrup. The flavor and sweetness balance the somewhat stringent black tea.

Either buy a bottle of real Starbucks vanilla syrup for a copycat as close to the original as possible, buy another brand, or make homemade vanilla syrup.

If you live near a Starbucks, try to buy a bottle from the barista. Most stores will sell you one if they have enough in stock and it costs about half as much as online.

I also use vanilla syrup for making this copycat Starbucks Vanilla Steamer and this absolutely delicious Iced Chai Tea Latte with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam.

Milk: The standard milk in Starbucks tea lattes is 2% dairy milk. I like this option because it provides creaminess and body.

I suggest sticking with dairy milk for true London Fog latte flavor.

Water and Ice: The tea bags are steeped in water and the latte contains ice. For the best-tasting latte use filtered water for both.

If you need a way to filter water, I always recommend a Brita water filter pitcher.

Step-by-Step Instructions

The keys to making the best Iced London Fog are to use concentrated tea and put the ingredients into a drink shaker or or cup in the “correct” order. Here are the steps to make it.

1. Brew the tea. Bring water to a boil and pour it over the earl grey tea bags in a tea pot. Set a timer and steep the tea for 5 minutes. The Starbucks tea latte recipe card specifically instructs baristas to steep black tea for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags when the tea has finished brewing.
2. Assemble the latte. Add vanilla syrup to the bottom of a shaker. Pour the tea over the syrup, then pour in cold milk, followed by ice. Shake the latte about ten times and pour into a cup with a 16 fluid ounce capacity or larger. If you don’t want a shaken Iced London Fog, just put the ingredients into a cup in the same order.

Detailed recipe and instructions are in recipe card at bottom of post.

Brewing the Earl Grey Tea

Assembling the Iced London Fog

Recipe Notes

Brew the tea for no more than 5 minutes. Otherwise, it will taste bitter. I suggest using the amount of time recommended on the tea bag package.

You can also read this: How to Make Black Tea Delicious Every Time.

Always brew double-strength tea for a latte. A tea latte has a significant amount of milk in it.

In order for the tea’s flavor to stand up to all the milk, it needs to be concentrated.

This simply means using twice as much tea or half as much water as you would for a regular cup of hot-brewed tea.

Add the ice last. There are two reasons why I always add ice to an iced tea latte last.

First, if you don’t want to wait for the tea to cool down before assembling the latte, adding cold milk to the warm tea before the ice, cools down the tea. This means less melting ice.

The second reason is because it’s easier to stir the earl grey tea, vanilla syrup and milk together when I opt not to shake the latte.

Number One Tip for Making an Iced London Fog

For best results, make iced London Fog tea lattes with cold tea.

This way you don’t have to worry about melting ice diluting the London Fog.

All you have to do is make a large batch of strong Earl Grey tea ahead of time and refrigerate it. It should stay fresh for about 3-4 days.

When you want to enjoy a copycat Starbucks Iced London Fog, then all you have to do is assemble the tea latte!

More Starbucks Tea Latte Recipes to Try

• Starbucks London Fog Latte Copycat Recipe
• Starbucks Iced Royal English Breakfast Tea Latte Copycat Recipe
• Starbucks Royal English Breakfast Tea Latte Copycat
• Starbucks Iced Chai Latte with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam
• Starbucks Iced Chai Latte with Matcha Cream Cold Foam

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