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Earl Grey Tea
The blend is named after the 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s, who reputedly received a gift, probably a diplomatic perquisite, of tea flavoured with bergamot oil. The legend usually involves a grateful Chinese mandarin whose son was rescued from drowning by one of Lord Grey's men, although this blend of tea was first made from fermented black Indian and "Ceylonese" (Sri Lankan) teas.Green tae is much more popular in China than black. Thus, it seems somewhat unlikely that they would have had a recipe for what we now call Earl Grey to bestow on visitors, though over the years many other varieties of tea have been used. Also, Lord Grey never set foot in China. In another version though, it's the son of an Indian raja being rescued from a tiger by one of Grey's servants. The tea proved so popular in the Prime Minister's drawing room that his tea merchants, Twinings in the Strand,were given a sample and asked to come up with a close match. Twinings sold the first "Earl Grey's tea" in the British market. Twinings Earl Grey blend includes China tea, Indian Darjeeling, Ceylon, and a hint of Lapsang souchong, a strong, "smoky" black tea. Although it is often served black (without milk), many of the upper classes (contrary to belief) drink it with a little milk (which gives the tea a murky grey colour, similar to that of dull washing up water). 伯爵茶是一种混有从佛手桔和其他桔类水果表皮萃取出的油脂香味的茶。通常"earl grey"指的是红茶；但现在它也可以指含有佛手桔油脂的绿茶和白开水。 格瑞伯爵二世是十九世紀三十年代的英国首相，传说他在外交出访时曾获赠一罐茶叶和佛手桔油，伯爵茶就是在这之后被命名的。尽管这种混合茶最早是由印度人和锡兰人的红茶制作而成，但伯爵茶与中国还有一段不解渊源，传说中，有一位清朝官吏，他的儿子险些溺水，幸好被格瑞的手下救起。在中国，绿茶比红茶更受青睐，因此，中国不太可能有伯爵茶的配方，虽然在许多年后各种不同的茶都开始慢慢为人接受。另一种版本则称格瑞根本没去过中国，是一个印度首长的儿子因格瑞仆人的相助而从虎口脱险。 伯爵茶在首相的客厅里特别受欢迎，于是他给了他的茶叶商人Twinings一些样品，让他在市场里进行一下销售比较。于是，Twinings在英国市场卖掉了第一批的伯爵茶。Twinings的混合伯爵茶包括中国茶，印度大吉岭茶，锡兰茶和微量的正山小种（中国产上等红茶,有明显的烟熏香味）。尽管一般喝时都不加奶，但是很多上层阶级都喜欢在喝的时候加些奶，使调和之后的茶带有朦胧的灰色。 |
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Earl Grey tea is any tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit. Traditionally the term "earl grey" was applied only to black tea; however, today the term is also applied to both green and white teas that contain oil of bergamot.
