I was intending to go to Starbucks for their Green Tea frapuccino, however I saw the poster for this and decided to try it because it was also earl grey tea to compare it to Starbucks Hojicha.
After getting pissed on the
Bailey's cream habiccino last time, I made sure this one was alchohol free.
There are two types of London fog, one is the
Earl Grey Tea Latte and the other is the
cocktail version made with 1¾ oz. of gin and ½ oz. of Pernod on frappé style crushed ice.
I was surprised to find out that it originates from Vancouver and not UK!
"London Fog is a proprietary name for a tea blended exclusively by Carnelian Rose Tea Co. Starbucks no longer used the name after being informed of the potential trade name conflict." saids Wiki, so I wonder if Habitu will stop using this name later.
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London Fog HabiccinoThe drink was yellow cream colour sprinkled with earl grey tea leaves.
When I took a sip, the ice was not finely blended and extremely coarse, it was like drinking crushed ice and milky tea separately because the ice floated to the top and the drink sank to the bottom.
Compared to Starbucks earl grey latte, the tea was weak and it was really milky.
However the earl grey aroma was different to the aroma at Starbucks. At Habitu, they used earl grey syrup and Starbucks have used tea powder.
Overall I felt that Starbucks fared better in terms of tea taste and price but the sweetness at Habitu was lighter and more acceptable.
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I hope to try the other FOG variations as well which are:
Manchester Fog- steamed soy milk with a sugar free vanilla syrup in Earl Grey tea,
Seattle Fog- soy misto (½ water, ½ soy, steamed) with 2 pumps of vanilla syrup and one pump of hazelnut syrup, in 2 bags of Earl Grey Tea,
Oregon Mist - same as London Fog, substituting Green tea and amaretto for Earl Grey and vanilla,
Sweet Treat London Fog - tea-less version of a cold London Fog, consists of chilled ginger ale and copious amounts of either lime sherbet or orange sherbet. As the sherbet melts, it gives the drink a foggy appearance,
Dublin Fog - same as London Fog, only substituting Earl Grey with Irish Breakfast Tea
Bangalore Fog - same as London Fog, only substituting Earl Grey with Chai
Atlantic City Fog - same as London Fog, only substituting Earl Gray with Rose Tea
Winter Fog - A London Fog in which the amount of vanilla is reduced and clover honey is added to taste.
Maui Fog - same as London Fog, only substituting coconut for vanilla syrup.
Starbucks Earl Grey Latte is a version of London Fog [in HK it is called Hojicha with tea jelly].
Tokyo Fog - same as London Fog, Matcha-based Green Tea substituted for Earl Grey.
Cape Town Fog - same as London Fog, Earl Gray substituted with Rooibos Tea
Durban Fog - A cross between a Cape Town Fog and a Bangalore Fog, basically the same as a London Fog, but substituting Earl Gray with Rooibos Tea and adding a pinch of tea masala.