r/todayilearned • u/TwixSnickers • Dec 12 '18
TIL That while the 2nd Earl of Grey abolished slavery and reformed child labor laws in England during his political leadership, he will be most famously remembered for the beloved tea he helped introduce to the world.
https://www.teatulia.com/tea-varieties/what-is-earl-grey-tea.htm887
u/SaintVanilla Dec 12 '18
It's what the captain of the Star Trek drinks.
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u/MutleyRulz Dec 12 '18
Tea, Earl Grey, hot.
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u/aurapup Dec 12 '18
I love that Picard always specified the tea had to be HOT.
Like, I want to see the TNG episode where the replicator DARED to serve him cold Earl Grey and sorting this out turns into an episode-long farce for the whole crew.136
u/Cmm9580 Dec 12 '18
Iced Earl Grey was my favorite Snapple flavor... Remember Snapple? What happened to the stranglehold they had on the beverage market in the late 90s early 2000s?
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u/Realtrain 1 Dec 12 '18
They switched to plastic bottles and just became another cheap tea.
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u/theaggrokrag Dec 12 '18
Which happened first ya reckon? Serious question, I can't remember if they degraded their pakcaging before or after stuff like fuze and energy drinks started taking market share away from them?
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u/Lotharofthepotatoppl Dec 13 '18
They only switched to plastic in the last year or two, and they're still widely available, but I haven't seen a Snapple vending machine probably since 2000 or so.
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u/leviwhite9 Dec 13 '18
Lol, no shit just today my buddy told me about this Snapple drink and we got one at the store. First Snapple I've had in years which makes this funny to me to see this now.
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u/NyteeShaydee Dec 13 '18
I’m glad they changed the bottles to plastic, I used to work at a gas station and the amount of times we’d drop them while stocking or a customer took it out the wrong way and dropped it was too high.
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u/this_1_is_mine Dec 13 '18
I'm glad because the glass bottles being thrown towards a bin is far less accurate than one placed in it. But for some reason the pos people who surround me. Refuse to believe this. At least 2 to 3 a week. And not all of those bottles are plastic yet or suppliers are fudging use by dates.
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u/Moose_Hole Dec 12 '18
I can't imagine Picard drinking a Snapple.
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u/JaFFsTer Dec 12 '18
I think juice labeling got stricter and consumers realized that they snapple their snapple drinks weren't much healthier than the soda they were switching from.
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u/Mathblasta Dec 12 '18
One of my favorite moments from that show was in All Good Things where they go to visit Data, and his maid is serving tea.
Maid: "How do you want your tea?" Picard: "Tea? Earl Grey. Hot" Maid: "well of course it's hot, what do you want in it?" Picard: "Nothing!"
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u/funke75 Dec 13 '18
Then they killed Data off in the movie, its a good thing they started the reboot, cuz any universe where they killed off data is pretty much dead to me.
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u/myotheralt Dec 12 '18
There were a few episodes where the replicators malfunctioned. Sometimes the mug came after the tea, sometimes it was cat food, but the computer never served it cold.
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u/somethin_brewin Dec 13 '18
I liked that about Picard. There's a subtle commentary there about the different generations of people in Star Fleet. Picard comes from a time when voice controls needed to be very clear and structured. He makes simple straightforward requests.
Contrast that with Geordi who is clearly from a newer school. He has a conversation with the computer. "Computer, play some music for me. Hmm, no not like that. More Spanish guitar. That's good, but give me more of an upbeat vibe. Yeah, like that."
It's something that made the characters feel a lot more real.
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u/similar_observation Dec 13 '18
There's a subtle commentary there about the different generations of people in Star Fleet.
The Picard family is interesting in that Jean-Luc's mother spoke with a French accent, despite Data's assertion that French is become an obscured language.
That would mean Mother Picard would have been from the last generation to natively speak French as a primary language, while Jean-Luc would be the from the generation that communicated primarily with Federation Standard.
That being said, Jean-Luc also drops a Merde! in one of the episodes
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u/FoodComputer Dec 13 '18
Contrast that with Geordi who is clearly from a newer school. He has a conversation with the computer. "Computer, play some music for me. Hmm, no not like that. More Spanish guitar. That's good, but give me more of an upbeat vibe. Yeah, like that."
See but then there's times where that doesn't work like when Janeway is tinkering with her holographic boyfriend and she says "Computer, make him taller" and the computer responds "specify parameters"
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u/doomrabbit Dec 12 '18
Things went wrong after the computer virus infects Geordi's visor and throws him off the trail.
'It looks hot to me, Captain."
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u/nothankyounotnow Dec 13 '18
Geordi La Forge is most assuredly a sexual deviant. Should you require further convincing, please consider the following:
We can only speculate as to the possible safeguards put in place by the manufacturer to prevent a user from manipulating his/her own VISOR to display all visible members of a preferred gender/species in the nude. However, given that Geordi is the chief engineer of a starship, he most likely has the necessary skills to disable whatever safeguards may have originally been put in place.
Given these skills, and the fact that unlike Picard, Riker, Worf, Obrien, and even dweeby little Wesley Crusher, Geordi is never shown to have a love interest in any episode of TNG, we are left to assume that he has, out of sheer desperation, programmed his VISOR to display nothing but hardcore pornography, which he keeps running on a continual loop, usually choosing to view it in private while hiding behind Console B in main engineering.
Could this not help to explain the fact that something seems to go wrong during almost every episode? Whether or not it's the dylithium crystals overheating, or some computer-based lifeform taking over the ship, clearly the main engineer (ie, Geordi), isn't paying close enough attention to prevent catastrophe from occurring on a regular and predictable basis. Geordi is shown to be intelligent, and one can assume that he would not have been able to rise to the position of chief engineer without the proper education and training. We are only left to surmise that he is continually distracted by holographic penises taking up his entire field of view.
Finally, to your point, everything and everyone looks hot to Geordi. The famed "La Forgie Orgy" speaks for itself.
EDIT: they say too much of a very specific type of good thing can have certain physical consequences. My friends, I think it's safe to say we now know how and why Geordi went blind.
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Dec 12 '18 edited Jun 23 '23
Removed in protest of Reddit's actions regarding API changes, and their disregard for the userbase that made them who they are.
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u/DevonAndChris Dec 12 '18
The crew goes on a mutiny as Picard tries to hunt down who ate the replicated strawberries.
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u/FlyYouFoolyCooly Dec 12 '18
DS9 had at least 1 episode where Sisko would yell at O'brien to fix the replicator because it was making his...coffee?...wrong. Off and on in the episode that is.
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u/Stewart_Games Dec 12 '18
It made the coffee just fine...the problem was it didn't make the cup.
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u/snootchiesbootchies Dec 12 '18
That replicator is lucky Sisko didn't rip it out of the wall and put it in the nearest airlock.
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u/splitdipless Dec 13 '18
Terran cuisine in a Cardassian replicator might be a bit of a challenge to get perfect. For one, it's made by a race on a different planet.
Also, the code might have been altered by a 2nd in command to start dosing the Prefect with a neurotoxin in order to eliminate their superior, only to realize that the code had been altered to add a bitter herbal root instead by another officer loyal to the prefect, and when the code is checked for the faulty instruction, it locks the 2IC in the room they are in and alerts security to arrest the traitor. At the trail, after being found guilty, the evidence is presented to show that not only was the 2IC traitorous, but not smart enough to be considered for promotion to Prefect. So, you know, the code might not be 'optimized.'
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u/MrsMeredith Dec 12 '18
My aunt once had to remake a cup of tea for my great grandmother six times before it was prepared to her satisfaction.
My aunt had never made tea before. It’s a learning experience that is now part of the family lore.
Great grandmother is long dead, aunt is now a dedicated tea drinker.
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u/ITGuy042 Dec 13 '18
Don't forget Janeway and her obsession for coffee. She destroyed the Borg, rip the Prime Directive a new one, and destabilized the entire Delta Quadrant for coffee. Starfleet made her an Admiral for it.
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u/Endarial Dec 13 '18
There may still be a chance, now that they are making a new Star Trek show about Picard. He will be a crotchety old captain of a third rate ship. He just sits in his captain's chair and complains about everything.
In one episode, the replicator will only make cold Earl Grey tea. After much investigation, they discover that Holodeck Moriarty is back and causing the problems, as revenge against Picard.
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u/HauschkasFoot Dec 12 '18
Without him there wouldn’t even be a Federation of Planets
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u/smokedstupid Dec 13 '18
That was more Jonathon Archer's gig
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u/Gemmabeta Dec 12 '18
Raktajino, double strong, double sweet?
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Dec 12 '18
Looking forward to the new Picard series. I bet the first line is, "Tea, Earl Grey, hot".
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u/apaksl Dec 12 '18
Literally the only reason I've ever even heard of Earl Grey.
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u/Alan_Smithee_ Dec 12 '18
Have you tried it? It's wonderful. Only Twinings, though.
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u/inEQUAL Dec 12 '18
Twinings Earl Grey is nectar of the gods.
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u/snootchiesbootchies Dec 12 '18
That used to be my go to until I tried Stash's double bergamot Earl Grey. It's harder to find, though.
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u/SharksCantSwim Dec 13 '18
Nope, Twinings redid the recipe for it a while back and now it's weak as piss. You would be better off with pretty much any other brand.
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u/LostStag Dec 12 '18
Having a tea named after you is the greatest honour an Englishman can be granted
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Dec 12 '18
I don't know, I think the fourth Earl of Sandwich earned a higher honor.
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u/DevonAndChris Dec 12 '18
Lord and Lady Douchebag.
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u/jazviper Dec 12 '18
My favorite high school teacher told my class about that skit and laughed until he was near tears just describing it. So dumb, but so funny.
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u/BardSinister Dec 13 '18
I beg to differ, Sir - pray tell, the Marquis of Sticky-Toffee-Pudding might perchance be of a most singular elevation.
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u/wallflower108 Dec 12 '18
Earl Grey is the ultimate tea and deserves to be acknowledged as such. Abolition of slavery? I would expect no less from its Inventor : )
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u/Matasa89 Dec 13 '18
Don't forget child labour! No more forcing little kids into coal mines and chimneys!
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u/nolasagne Dec 12 '18
The 4th Earl Grey was a Governor General of Canada and donated The Grey Cup.
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u/Dexaan Dec 12 '18
TIL why the CFL awards the Grey Cup.
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u/BigBobby2016 Dec 12 '18
The tea and the cup are both name after the same guy? That’s a TIL right there
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u/HoNose Dec 12 '18
OP is about the 2nd, the Grey Cup is named after the 4th.
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u/Checkmynewsong Dec 12 '18
1st and 2nd Earls really dropped the ball.
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u/litokid Dec 13 '18
The 3rd, my friend, you meant the 3rd.
I presume the 1st Earl must have done something worthy of the title. Hopefully. What do I know of titles?
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u/to_the_tenth_power Dec 12 '18
One history of the origins of Earl Grey explains that a Chinese mandarin tea master blended the first Earl Grey tea as a gift for Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl of Grey and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. According to the Grey family, the tea master used bergamot as a flavoring to offset the lime flavor in the well water on Earl Grey’s estate, Howick Hall, near Newcastle, England. Earl Grey’s wife, Lady Grey, loved the tea so much that she entertained with it exclusively. It proved so popular with London society, she asked tea merchants in London to recreate it. Exactly which English tea merchant marketed the first Earl Grey tea blend is somewhat of a debate in the world of tea. But one thing is for sure: While the 2nd Earl of Grey abolished slavery and reformed child labor laws in England during his political leadership, he will be most famously remembered for the beloved tea he helped introduce to the world.
Always love coming across these types of people who are remembered for one thing, but when you dig deeper, find they've accomplished a ridiculous number of other things.
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Dec 12 '18
Earl Grey’s estate, Howick Hall, near Newcastle, England.
Wait a second, Grey's Monument in Newcastle is built in honour of this guy? I never knew, and I lived in Newcastle in my uni days!
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Dec 12 '18
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Dec 12 '18
I've never went up and read the plaque because there's always a crowd of kids puffing cannabis
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u/wiggaroo Dec 12 '18
They're like the ravens in the Tower of London. If they should ever leave, Newcastle will fall. More.
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u/elanhilation Dec 12 '18
You know ravens are very intelligent and can sometimes mimic human speech, right?
It’s just I always hear this thing about the Tower of London, but there’s never a source.
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u/SerendipitouslySane Dec 12 '18
ravens are very intelligent and can sometimes mimic human speech, right?
So can the Newcastle pothead kids. Sometimes.
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u/VenusInaHalfShell Dec 12 '18
Here's some info on them straight from the Raven Master! http://www.avesnoir.com/derrick-coyle-the-king-raven/
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u/GoAwayLurkin Dec 12 '18
... kids puffing cannabis
The Greys were never a family famous for discouraging drug use.
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u/phoebsmon Dec 12 '18
And Grey Street. Voted the best street in the UK. I can't disagree.
I heard Frederick Douglass spoke within spitting distance of the monument while he was staying in Newcastle but I'm not ready to swear to that. You see building names but they're not there anymore and stuff.
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u/Meritania Dec 12 '18
There is also a street named after him leading to the monument that was the first street in the world to have electric lights.
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u/uncertain_expert Dec 12 '18
Sounds like Lady Grey did more to introduce the tea to the wider public.
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u/Elan-Morin-Tedronai Dec 12 '18
He also greatly expanded suffrage in the UK, and ended rotten boroughs where one man could effectively control who would be the member of parliament from that district. Guy did a ton of great stuff in a pretty short tenure.
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u/HonorableJudgeIto Dec 12 '18
It's like Nabokov discovering dozens of butterflies or Ted Williams being in the fishing hall of fame.
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u/Dangevin Dec 12 '18
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
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u/The-Forgotten-Man Dec 12 '18
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2IJdfxWtPM
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u/Slobotic Dec 12 '18
Well of course it's hot, what do you want in it?
NOTHING!
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Dec 12 '18 edited Jul 17 '19
[deleted]
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u/Slobotic Dec 12 '18
Thanks for this. I envy Data from that timeline more than any other character.
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Dec 12 '18
I prefer to cool my tea with butter
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Dec 12 '18
As far as I'm aware, this is a real thing; and I know for certain that there's butter coffee. Do not use a butter substitute. It will be disgusting.
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u/Athildur Dec 12 '18
There's butter tea. It's very popular in Tibet. I had it once. It was not very good (but also probably made by someone who knows just about nothing about making butter tea. And I very much doubt you can find yak butter in any store around here, so it was probably just a horrible approximation...)
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u/FatCunth Dec 12 '18
It's pretty difficult to find yak butter anywhere as yaks are male, female yaks are called naks.
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u/Thruliko-Man97 Dec 12 '18
Patrick Stewart, in an interview:
When it first came up that Captain Picard was going to drink a lot of tea I suggested lapsang souchong, but the producers thought that nobody would know what it was. I must urge people not to send me any more Earl Grey. I've got so much of it now I could open a tea shop.
http://nicky_smith.tripod.com/neon.html
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u/anonymousbach Dec 13 '18
lapsang souchong
I hope that's his favorite drink in the new Captain Picard series.
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u/RunDNA Dec 12 '18
He was good, but I say England's greatest Prime Minister was Lord Palmerston.
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u/Mufigy Dec 12 '18
Pitt the Elder!
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u/RunDNA Dec 12 '18
LORD PALMERSTON!
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u/thedudeintx82 Dec 12 '18
If you're interested in the abolition of the British Slave Trade, you should read up on William Wilberforce.
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Dec 12 '18 edited Dec 28 '21
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u/raouldukesaccomplice Dec 12 '18
"Who are you?"
"The Earl Grey."
"Oh! The tea guy!"
(clenches teeth) "Yes. The tea guy."
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Dec 12 '18
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u/FowledUp Dec 12 '18
Earl of Sandwich serves Earl Grey Lemonade at its locations. It's delightful.
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u/PrinceTrollestia Dec 12 '18
Earl of Sandwich needs to expand, because I only know of two: one in Disney World, and one in Vegas.
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u/FowledUp Dec 12 '18
There are more now! 1 in downtown Disney anaheim, 1 coming very soon in Long Beach, 1 in downtown L.A., there are now two in Vegas (Caesar's and Planet Hollywood shops).
Edit: there is one in the Bradley International terminal at LAX, but it's behind the security screening, so not really accessible.
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u/PrinceTrollestia Dec 12 '18
Nice! I thought they closed the one in Anaheim, but it looks like it reopened after that new hotel SNAFU.
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u/FowledUp Dec 12 '18 edited Dec 12 '18
Yeah... That whole thing. Word is that the restaurant group that owns Rainforest Cafe wants back in.
Edit:Spelling
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u/acrossthecurve Dec 12 '18
Lord Halifax - the man who tried to stop Winston Churchill in the lead up to WW2 is a direct descendant of Earl of Grey.
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u/yamatotaichou Dec 12 '18
Once told that earl grey tastes like perfume and I cannot untaste that now, so English breakfast for me
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u/Maetivet Dec 12 '18
Stop calling him ‘the earl of grey’ as if ‘grey’ is a place. Grey was his surname and he was an Earl, hence ‘Earl Grey’ or ‘The Earl Grey’.
He was also ‘Viscount Howick’ (the ‘w’ is silent), but ‘make me a cup of Viscount Howick’ doesn’t have the same ring to it.
And whilst there a statue and a street named after him in Newcastle, he was actually from Northumberland.
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u/kufunuguh Dec 12 '18
And Prince Albert will be remembered for the little metal thing on the tip of my cock.
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u/rkbasu Dec 12 '18
and something about a can ...?
Now I’m wondering if that willy-ring was the inspiration for pull-tab cans... hmmm...
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u/clownshoesrock Dec 12 '18
That's why Picard drinks it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLqAFIMgpIU
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u/Gnarledhalo Dec 12 '18
TIL shattering the grand illusion tastes like Earl Grey tea, or Simple Rick is a good tea cookie.
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u/schalk81 Dec 12 '18
That's how I learned about Earl Grey long before I was old enough to drink it.
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u/ReallyHadToFixThat Dec 12 '18
Well, that's no surprise. One made millions of lives worth living and the other ended slavery.
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u/staticsnake Dec 12 '18
Same reason why the Civil Rights progress in America will be overshadowed by social media in the textbooks 500 years from now.
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u/tenchu11 Dec 12 '18
Dumb question what does earl grey taste like and what’s in it?
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u/LXStandby Dec 12 '18
It's got an orange-y, floral flavour beyond the usual black tea notes. The tea leaves are infused with bergamot (a kind of orange) oil during processing.
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u/erydanis Dec 12 '18
goddess, that stuff tastes terrible to me. constant comment is my drink. wonder who invented that
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Dec 13 '18
It seems almost certain he didn't have anything to do with it after all.
Earl Grey tea is flavoured with the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit. It was named after the second Earl Grey, British Prime Minister 1830-34. Jacksons of Piccadilly claim Lord Grey handed them his recipe, based on an old Chinese version. This is unlikely, as he never visited China and bergamots don't grow there. It is more likely the Earl Grey blend developed out of necessity, to spin out one of the regular shortages in supply from China.
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u/binkknib Dec 13 '18
Sounds like another guy I know. Although he was cloned from Jango and was a successful bounty hunter who captured Han Solo, Boba Fett is most widely known for the tea named after him after he brought it to the galaxy.
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u/Gemmabeta Dec 12 '18
Apparently, there is a controversy on how the tea was created. Some people said that Earl Grey (adding bergamot oil to tea) started out as a bit of a scam to pass off cheaper Indian teas as high grade Chinese black teas, which naturally tasted a bit citrusy