Earl Grey: Hot!

Sipping a pleasant cup of Earl Grey on a melancholy day and pondering the wisdom of Star Trek’s Captain Picard, I was moved to do a bit of research.

Apparently, it's far more easy to get a cup of Earl Grey swill than a quality pour. Since Earl Grey is not a cut or variety of tea leaf, but rather an infusion of black tea and a specific citrus essence, it’s easy to hide a cheap tea beneath the powerful perfume. (That said, I have full faith that my favorite starship captain’s replicator was fully adept at brewing a superior cup of Earl Grey.)

The tea, said to have been popularized in the early 1800s by England’s second Earl Grey (who, it’s claimed, saved the life of the Chinese man who gave him the recipe) is flavored with the essence of the fragrant bergamot orange cultivated in Southern Italy.

There’s some research that suggests bergamot orange oil is capable of a variety of internal terrors, including “muscle cramps, involuntary twitches (fasciculations), burning or prickling feelings (paraesthesias), and blurred vision.” Of course, sort of thing isn’t common in the casual tea-sipper. I never saw Captain Picard hunched over in agony or twisted in a fasciculationous bout (well, at least not from a relaxing hot beverage).

Therefore, I tip my teacup to intrepid adventurer Captain Picard – a man who stands tall in the face of dangers on land, in space and in his cup.