London Fog with Lilac Milk

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Looking for a way to use lilacs? This London Fog with Lilac Milk is such a nice morning treat. The subtle floral note from the lilac is just perfect here. I have included a tutorial and recipe to make your own lilac infused milk for the tea. If you are a tea lover, this might become your new favorite!

Lilacs In Bloom-

The lilacs are here, but only for a fleeting moment and they are gone. When they bloom, I find myself in a rush to acquire some before they leave us yet again for another year. As an avid tea drinker I love floral flavors anyway, but there is just something special about lilacs: their beautiful color and heady perfume scream all things Spring. This easy London fog with lilac milk is a fabulous way to use them.

What is a London Fog?

A London Fog is usually defined as a cup of strongly brewed Earl Grey tea with milk, sugar, and sometimes a pinch of lavender or a little bit of vanilla. While there is nothing wrong with any of that, I am making this one with Lilac Sugar and Lilac infused milk. Tale tells that the London Fog originated in Vancouver BC, which is not terribly far from me. It is likely why they are so popular where I live.

If you have any friends from the UK, they might refer to this as Builders Tea. It is so named because men who worked blue collar jobs such as manufacturing or construction would often drink strong brewed black tea with milk on their breaks. 

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Lilac Infused Milk

The milk is very easy to make, and can be done ahead of time and refrigerated. If you can acquire enough blossoms, you could make enough of this milk to last you for a few days, depending on how many cups of tea you drink. 

Infusing the milk is as simple as heating the milk to a gentle simmer and adding the lilac blossoms. 

You will notice that the recipe card says 6 servings, but that is for the amount of milk you are making, not necessarily the tea itself. By making a larger quantity of milk than what you need for one cup of tea you will have plenty left to make a few more cups.

The milk will keep in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for a few days, but try to use it as soon as you can, as the flavor will mellow out if it sits too long.

When trimming the blossoms for milk, be sure to trim the blossoms off above where they join the stem. Having stems in the milk will cause it to turn bitter. Be sure to tightly pack them in the measuring cup when measuring them out.

Serving Suggestions and Other Tips

I like to punch up the lilac notes here by using Lilac Sugar in addition to the infused milk. Lilac sugar is easy to make, and I have a post that shows you how to make your own.

If you don’t have any lilac sugar that is just fine! You could also use cream instead of milk if you like. This is when a little milk frother really comes in handy. If you have one, I recommend using it here as the foamed milk makes it a little more special. 

Other varieties of black tea may be used in place of Earl Grey, just be sure it is something that does not have other strong flavors such as orange, rose, or lavender. They will cancel out the lilac’s gentle flavor. Plain and unflavored black tea is pretty easy to find if you can’t get any Earl Grey.

I really hope you enjoy this tea, and I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below if you enjoyed this recipe! If you have not signed up for my weekly newsletter, you can do that at the bottom of the post. Each week, I send all the latest updates and subscriber exclusive content. Happy Spring and Happy Cooking!