"Mike Petro" > wrote in message
...
>
> Here are some history links.
> http://www.secretkingdom.com/folklore.asp?ID=5
> http://www.barrys-tea.com/articles/e...y_history.html
> http://www.twinings.com/en_int/histo...on/moretea.asp

From
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...%22+tea&hl=en:

"Many legends surround the traditional English tea, Earl Grey. The most
popular story recounts that Charles Earl Grey upon a visit to China was
given the recipe and carried it back to England. One thing most tea books
agree on - is this story is hogwash. Not only have the Chinese never been
Earl Grey drinkers, but also Charles Grey never visited China. The origin of
Earl Grey has many theories however, no matter what its origins; whether
welcome visitor or illegal immigrant, Earl Grey is now a British
institution."

Since I like Earl Grey made with a China black base, I prefer the version in
which it was one of Grey's diplomats who received the tea from the mandarin
because he was seeking to influence trade relations or simply upon the
conclusion of a successful diplomatic mission even though it conflicts with
the Chinese never having been drinkers of Earl Grey since it's not totally
inconceivable. According to
http://www.museums.org.za/bio/plants...ae/citrus.htm:

"Citrus aurantium (Seville, Bergamot or Sour Orange)
Hybrid between Pummelo Citrus grandis and Mandarin Citrus reticulata.
Bergamot is sometimes placed in a separate species Citrus bergamia, but is
otherwise considered to be a variety of Citrus aurantium. Citrus aurantium
orginated in China and seems to have entered the written record there by 300
BC. It is recorded from Japan by about 100 AD. By about 100 BC, Sour Orange
seeds appear to have reached Rome. In China and Japan, Sour Orange is not
usually eaten raw but used for: (1) making marmalade and candied peel; (2)
producing essential oils for use in soaps and perfume; and (3) scenting tea
using the flower buds. Bergamot yields neroli oil from the flowers which is
used in perfumery (e.g. in Eau de Cologne), and Bergamot oil which is the
substance added to Earl Grey tea to give it that distinctive flavour."

And according to
http://www.holistic.com/holistic/lea...?OpenDocument:

"The most famous of all flavored teas is of course Earl Grey, created for
the Prime Minister of England in the 1830s and flavored with the pear-shaped
orange of Canton, China."

So there!

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