Not easy for me! I will look for clues as the day progresses.

Cynthia

Me neither and.... I'm probably the only one that doesn't like Earl Grey Tea, yuck!!!

Annette

Ha Annette, I am not a fan of the tea either. I thought I was the only one! :)

So, I wonder what flavor we both dislike. One that comes to mind for me is licorice or anise, but I can't say I noticed that in the tea. How about you?

Still don't know why today would be Albert's day.

Cynthia

Annette - I am shocked, shocked, that you don't know!!

Oooooo - segue - the Santa Parade is going by my window!!! Pipe band!!! I love it, don't know what song they're playing, but the Drum Major (leader?) has tinsel wrapped around his baton, and they are all wearing Santa hats - I'm starting to get in the mood!! You know, I never liked parades as a child, even now, I don't go out of my way, but hey, when they go right by your front door...

OK, no clues in the above, btw. Well, the history of the tea is this: According to one legend, a grateful Chinese mandarin whose son was rescued from drowning by one of Lord Grey's men first presented the blend to the Earl in 1803. The tale appears to be apocryphal, as Lord Grey never set foot in China the use of "x" to scent tea was then unknown in China. However, this tale is subsequently told (and slightly corrected) as on the Twinings website, as "having been presented by an envoy on his return from China".

Gotta love those urban legends!!

Nancy.

Could you clarify a little bit, Nancy? You are asking us to name the ingredient, and then say what it is. If we name it, haven't we said what it is?

I know it is some kind of a spice, and I am hoping the name comes back to me soon. My first thought was cardamom, but I don't have much confidence in that answer. Think, brain, think. Ooh, ooh, I just remembered it. It starts with a b, right? And it comes from or is related to a fairly common flower?

TM

Weeelllll, it's one of those things that has acquired a couple of meanings through history, like Indian tea, for example, or pasta once being called macaroni in North America. See, TM, you're right, but you're wrong!! lol. Don't you hate that??

It was sooo much fun shopping for hand-made items yesterday!! I bought a pair of hand-knitted socks!! Putting them on gave me a memory not quite remembered from childhood, of wearing socks most likely made by a loving Grandparent, or my Mother. Some of the hand-made toys had interesting themes, like lions, or oddly, Greek mythology!! The games were pretty cool, though.

Nancy.

Hmmmmm, the mention of China, could a fruit be involved? I know bergamot and lavender have been used in some blends.

Cyn, I can't put my finger on why I don't like it, every time I try it mold comes to mind LOL.

Annette

Well, the sun has come out!! It is a glorious day now. In the field near here, some kids are playing touch football - magic. It's pretty much the end of the season for that, here in the Great White (not yet) North.

Nancy.

How about an orange?

Annette

I am out on this one as I don't drink tea and know little about the taste and ingredients that go into making it. Also don't know about Albert.

The sun is shining here also which will make going out in the frigid temps more bearable. We have a little over an inch of snow on the ground but roads and walks are clear.

AAaahh, Annette - but which one? There's the rub, as Shakespeare would say - but we're in the wrong country.....it's a hybrid of Citrus limetta and Citrus aurantium.

Nancy.

Nancy, picky, picky, picky. I thought my figuring out it might be an orange was quite 'brilliant'. Now you want to know which one picky, picky, picky LOL.

Annette

I was thinking mandarin orange from your clue. Funny though, I do like those, but not the tea so much.

Still no idea about Albert.

Cynthia

I thought mandarin too but then thought that was too obvious.

Annette

I was thinking that bergamot was the ingredient in Earl Grey Tea that gives it a distinctive, and, to my taste, unpleasant flavour. Does that make me right and wrong? More right, or more wrong? Ha, ha.

TM

lol. Bergamot is right, mandarin is wrong. TM, what you are talking about is also called Oswego tea which is made from a native North American plant, not the Earl Grey we want. That is why I'm being fussy. Capish?

I wonder what Justin Bieber is doing today? Me, I'm listening, not unusually, to Justin Hayward and the boys. I wonder if the boy wonder was named for him?

Nancy.

So,back to Albert. Is Albert Hall named for him? If you have given us clues for why this is his day, I didn't catch them. *sigh*. Oh well. You seem to stump me regularly these days, Nancy. Can't wait to hear the answers!

Cynthia

Oh dear, I this this would be so easy and so obvious to some, that I was embarrassed to post it as a question!! lol. When will I learn!!

{{gwi:616131}}
This is Earl Grey Tea, also sometimes spelled Earl Gray. It is a black tea tea flavoured with bergamot oil from the rind of Bergamot oranges. Bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia) is a small citrus tree which blossoms during the winter and is grown commercially in Italy.
{{gwi:616133}}
Kinda messes up the Chinese idea, but then, Marco Polo did bring many wonderful things back from China, such a pasta!! According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family seat in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the preponderance of lime in the local water. Lady Grey used it to entertain in London as a political hostess, and it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others, which is how Twinings came to market it as a brand. By the way, there also is different varieties of a tea known as Lady Grey; the two most common kinds (Lavender Lady Grey and Citrus Lady Grey) combine Earl Grey tea with lavender and Seville oranges, respectively. A beverage called "London Fog" is a combination of Earl Grey, steamed milk and vanilla syrup - sounds like chai to me!!
TM, the reason I was so, so picky is this:
{{gwi:616134}}
This is Bee Balm/Monarda didyma, aka bergamot flower, or Oswego Tea (so named because the Oswego Indians made tea with). It makes a citrusy flower infusion. Beebalm has a long history of use as a medicinal plant by many Native Americans, including the Blackfeet. The Blackfeet Indians recognized this plant's strong antiseptic action, and used poultices of the plant for skin infections and minor wounds. A tea made from the plant was also used to treat mouth and throat infections caused by dental caries and gingivitis. Beebalm is the natural source of the antiseptic thymol, the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwash formulas. The Winnebago used a tea made from beebalm as a general stimulant. It was also used as a carminative herb by Native Americans to treat excessive flatulence. Beat that, Earl Grey!! I was hoping that mandarin would take you to orange, and pasta would take you to Italy. After that, I could have given it away.

Now Albert, I knew was going to be a tough sell for my American friends, but I was sure Annette would be onboard to help with clues!! Our 4th Governor General was big on amateur sport, did what he could to encourage it, though he was one of those impoverished Earls, who lost most of the family fortune in ill-advised investments in South Africa. He was interested in North American football, and spent $48 for a solid sterling cup for the competition. Yesterday was the 100th Annual Grey Cup contest. Many shenanigans accompany this fall tradition in our Canadian Football League, including a Calgarian on horse-back riding though a hotel lobby. Saturday, is was, after much negotiation and shaming, the Royal York Hotel. Albert Grey was an ambitious man, travelling the width of Canada, even going to the then Dominion of Newfoundland and several times to the United States to visit President Theodore Roosevelt, with whom Grey developed a strong bond. Kids playing football and end of the season were apparently weak clues here!! And Justin Bieber and Gordon Lightfoot were the half-time entertainment!! I neither know nor care what Beiber sang - Lightfoot did the Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

So there you go!! Annette, I am still shocked you didn't know this!! Your husband and sons don't watch the game?? You're a gardener, I thought at least you'd know the Bee Balm connection!!

I'm going to give one star to both TM for Bergamot, and Annette for orange. You were on the right track.

I actually quite like Earl Grey, especially for afternoon tea. There is a lot of trivia surrounding it:
*In the movie Skyfall when Q (Ben Whishaw) meets James Bond (Daniel Craig) he says, "Well, I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pyjamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field."(I do want to see that movie!)
*The character Jean-Luc Picard from the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation drinks 'Tea, Earl Grey: hot' in many episodes.
*The character Hyacinth Bucket from the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances drinks Earl Grey tea in many episodes.

So there you go, lots of trivia, just not answers!! Cyn, the Albert from the Royal Albert Hall was Queen Victoria's beloved husband, Prince Albert. Sorry.

So, thanks to all for playing!! It is now the Great White North, as we had maybe an inch of snow overnight. My neighbours are still trying to heat me out, for the window in the back room is still open, and PITA has had her first acquaintance with snow - magic!!!

See you nest week - Nancy.

LOL, no sports watchers in this house, so that didn't help, knew the monarda connection but didn't think that was what you were looking for. Never watched 'Keeping up Appearances'...I did mention Bergamot earlier but didn't connect the dots. So now I know it's was a Bergamot Orange you were looking for, nope didn't know anything about this orange until now :).

Annette

And now you do!! I always thought it was the flower in the tea, till I learned it was native North American, which kiboshed that idea!! Geez Annette - they hunt they fish, they don't watch football!! lol. Too funny. Like I said, I was almost embarrassed to put this out as a question, so weak did I think it was!!

Nancy.

Thanks for the star, Nancy. I totally understand why bergamot was not good enough, when bergamot orange was the answer --- two totally different things.

DW and I saw Skyfall two weeks ago, and we both enjoyed it, which is saying a lot for DW, as she isn't generally a fan of Bond movies.

I'm a big Lightfoot fan, and the Canadian Railroad Trilogy is an outstanding piece of work, if you ask me. I may have to sing a bit of it ... Oh, they looked in the future, and what did they see ...

Thanks for the fun question.

TM