Cocktails with Earl Grey tea
Earl Grey tea is a flavored tea, usually black, scented with bergamot.
How it's used
Brewed, it brings bergamot and tannin; in a drink without alcohol, the tannin adds the grip a spirit would. If you infuse it into gin, do it cold and taste as you go. The bergamot comes out early and the tannin late, so an extra twenty minutes can turn a fragrant gin bitter. Even two hours can be too long.
Substitutes for Earl Grey tea
Lady Grey or similar tea
Swaps straight in to yield a slightly fruitier result. Brew or infuse it exactly the same way.
Black tea with zest
A solid backup. A strip of lemon or orange zest stands in for the citrus scent of bergamot, while the tea body remains the same.
Bee balm
Will not work. It is nicknamed wild bergamot for a similar scent, but its oils carry a strong thyme note instead.
Storage
Dry leaf keeps for months sealed and dark, and the bergamot fades before the tea does. Brewed tea keeps a day or two in the fridge.
