Earl Grey Tea Coral Way: Hot Pot, Iced or London Fog

If you're looking for Earl Grey tea on Coral Way, the short answer is that you can sit down with a proper pot of it at specialTEA Lounge, at 10766 SW 24th St in the Columbia Shopping Plaza. We've been Miami's Original Tea Lounge since 2009, every cup here is brewed from premium loose leaf tea, never bags, and Earl Grey is one of the teas people ask for by name. The longer answer is that there's more than one way to order it, and the right one depends on the kind of afternoon you're having.

What makes Earl Grey taste like Earl Grey

Earl Grey is a black tea scented with bergamot, a citrus fruit whose peel gives the tea its bright, slightly floral smell. That's really the whole trick. The black tea underneath is bold and full, and the bergamot on top keeps it from feeling heavy, which is why it's the tea a lot of people land on when plain black tea seems a little flat to them.

It's also a blend, not a single origin tea, and nobody should feel bad about that. A good blend is built to taste the same every time you order it, so the Earl Grey you loved in October is the one you'll get again in January. If bergamot sounds unfamiliar, you've probably smelled it before without knowing the name, because it shows up in plenty of citrusy things. In a cup it reads as something close to lemon or orange peel, only softer.

Three ways to order Earl Grey tea on Coral Way

Our menu lists more than 60 loose leaf teas, and they come as hot pots, iced teas, London fog and tea lattes. Earl Grey happens to work in every one of those, so here's how each version drinks.

A hot pot, when you have time to sit

This is the classic, and it's the best way to find out what the tea tastes like before you add anything to it. A pot lasts a lot longer than a single mug, which makes it a natural fit for a study session or a slow catch-up with a friend. Try the first cup plain so you can pick out the bergamot. After that it's your call, because Earl Grey takes milk and a little sweetener better than most teas do, and nobody here is going to judge how you finish the pot.

Iced, when it's Miami outside

Hot tea is a tougher sell on a humid afternoon, and that's fine, since the same loose leaf can come iced. Earl Grey holds up well over ice because the citrus note stays bright when it's cold. It's a good order to carry out to the patio, and it's an easy swap if your usual is a sweet iced tea from a bottle and you'd like something with more going on.

As a London fog, when you want something creamy

A London fog is Earl Grey with vanilla and steamed milk. Think of it as the tea version of a latte, with the bergamot doing the job espresso would normally do. It's the drink we point coffee people toward when they want to try tea without giving up the warm, milky cup they're used to. Organic soy, almond and oat milk are available on every drink, so it's simple to make one dairy free.

There's a fourth option for the boba crowd, too. Our boba menu lets you build your own with any tea, so if you'd like your Earl Grey with tapioca pearls underneath, just ask at the counter.

Caffeine, timing and what to order instead at night

Earl Grey is a black tea, so it does carry caffeine. That makes it a great morning or early afternoon pick, and a solid companion for a long stretch of reading or a paper that's due tomorrow. It's a gentler kind of pick-me-up than a double shot, and plenty of our regulars treat a pot of it as their second coffee of the day.

Later in the evening, you may want to switch. We're open until 11 PM six days a week, and the question we hear most after dark is what's good without the caffeine. South African rooibos is the usual answer, since it's naturally caffeine free and still has enough body to feel like a real cup of tea. People searching for non caffeinated drinks on Coral Way tend to end up there, or with one of the coffee-free frozen cremes.

And if someone in your group flat out wants coffee, they're covered. We're a tea lounge first, but all of our coffee is USDA organic, fair trade certified and locally roasted, served French pressed or cold brewed for 16+ hours. Friends who were hunting for the best coffee on Coral Way and friends who came for a loose leaf tea bar can share a table without anybody settling.

Make an afternoon of it

A pot of Earl Grey is better when you're not in a hurry, and the lounge is set up for staying a while. There's free high-speed WiFi with no password and no time limit, which our WiFi and study guide covers in detail if you're planning to work. There's also a full library of board games you can pull off the shelf, a colorful patio, and vegan cookies baked fresh daily in six flavors, any of which is a very reasonable thing to have next to a hot cup of tea.

Getting here is easy. We're about 2 minutes from FIU, and parking is free in the plaza lot right in front of our door. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM, Saturday from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, so a cafe open late on Coral Way is an option most nights of the week. You'll find directions on our visit page.

So the next time you're craving Earl Grey, come by specialTEA Lounge and tell us how you take it. Hot pot, iced, or fogged up with vanilla and steamed milk, we'll brew it from real leaves and you can stay as long as you like.