Earl Grey Tea

You'll have customers for life if you serve an excellent Earl Grey tea blend! Even though Earl Grey comes in many different forms, this classic blend is one of the most popular we sell. It takes a long time and a lot of trying and testing to make a new Earl Grey black tea. The recipe for our blend has stayed the same for over ten years. We put together high-grown Ceylon tea leaves, a smooth top-grade Keemun, high-quality natural bergamot oil, and blue cornflowers for decoration. The result is a high-quality cup of tea with no strong smell or aftertaste.

Adding taste to Earl Grey Tea

Sri Lanka's highlands grow high-quality black tea leaves with the familiar "Ceylon" taste. Ceylon teas are full of flavour with floral notes, mild astringency and a wonderful, bright coppery colour when infused. They make a great black tea base for Earl Grey and other flavoured black teas. You can find the best Ceylon tea in Dimbula and Nuwara Eliya in January and February. Uva and the eastern fields of Nuwara Eliya produce the best tea in July and August. This "dual peak period" lets us buy the best black tea leaves for flavoured teas at different times of the year, ensuring they are always of the highest quality and fresh. 
We only use natural flavourings from natural sources to add something more to the tea, not take away from its natural taste. For Earl Grey, we use very high-quality bergamot oil that's rich in aroma and has a sharp, strong, orange-like flavour and floral aroma, but doesn't overpower the tea with too much perfume and flavour so you can still enjoy the natural tea taste.

How is Bergamot oil made?

Bergamot oil comes from the fruit of the bergamot tree. It is a citrus fruit that grows in Southern Italy, Greece, and California. The fruit looks like a small orange but is an oval-shaped berry with thick skin. The bergamot tree is also known as the Bee-gum tree or the Oswego Tea Tree and grows several metres high.
Late summer and autumn are the best times to pick the fruit. Bergamots are picked by hand and put into boxes when they are ready. In the past, bergamot oil was made by placing the peel in water and then cold pressing the skin to get the oil. Today, ripe Bergamot are put in crates and taken to places where the oil can be taken out more quickly and easily through industrial processes. It is a very expensive citrus oil to produce requiring around 180Kg - 200Kg of fruit to extract 1Kg of bergamot oil.

Where does Bergamot grow?

The Bergamot Tree, called Citrus aurantium, grows in many places, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece, and North Africa. Bergamots are grown for their oil and fruit and are eaten cooked or raw. In many places worldwide, they are used as ornamental trees.

What does Bergamot look like?

The bergamot fruit, called berries, is known by the Latin name Citrus aurantium var. bergamia. It has an oval shape and a thin peel that can be yellowish-green or greenish-brown. Bergamot essential oil is used in massage oils, cosmetics, and food.
The word "bergamot" comes from the Italian word for "bee garden," which describes how this orange fruit smells like honey.

Earl Grey - The History

There are many versions of how Earl Grey got its name. People say that Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the UK from 1830 to 1834, made Earl Grey Tea famous. One idea is that when Earl Grey returned from a trip to China in 1841, he told his helper to make tea with bergamot oil, just as he had enjoyed in China.

Drinking Earl Grey

Traditionally Earl Grey is known for being a blend of black tea and bergamot orange flavour. Over the years, loose leaf Earl Grey tea has changed in many ways. One popular way to make it is to add more citrus flavours, often called Lady Grey. Our version of this is Duchess Earl Grey, and like Earl Grey, it comes in pyramid tea bags that break down over time. We recommend making Earl Grey or Duchess Earl Grey at brewing temperatures close to a rolling boil with a steeping time of the tea leaves for 3–7 minutes.

Earl Grey Tea Collection

As the recognised taste of Earl Grey is so delicious, we have a range of teas that have more or less natural bergamot oil in the blend recipe for an authentic experience. You can find all these teas available in our Wholesale Earl Grey Tea Collection.

Earl Grey Tea: Your FAQ Guide

Discover everything you need to know about the classic and beloved Earl Grey with our comprehensive FAQ guide. We've gathered the top most frequently asked questions your customers might ask!