With final exam season rapidly approaching, many students are dealing with crippling stress, winter sickness and various other battles. And whether you’re a student or not, the few chilly, taxing weeks before holiday break can warrant some pretty tense emotions.

So, what better way to de-stress than with a warm, sweet beverage that you can make in the pleasant comfort of your own home (or dorm room) in just a few minutes? 

Before you begin, there are a few select ingredients that you’ll want to make sure to stock up on to make sure you have everything you’ll ever need for a homemade London Fog.

For your drink, you’ll want to gather earl grey tea, milk, honey, vanilla extract and culinary-grade dried lavender or lavender syrup (optional, but highly recommended).

I’m a lavender lover, so I tend to use both dried lavender and lavender syrup when I make a London Fog, but that is completely up to you. You can use just the syrup, just the dried lavender or neither, but I think the sweet, floral flavor elevates the drink beautifully. 

Once you have all of your ingredients, you’ll begin by boiling just over a cup of water for your tea. When your water is boiled, add two earl grey tea bags to your mug of choice and pour the cup of water over the tea. If you’re adding dried lavender, now is the time to do it. 

Using a tea sieve is an excellent way to easily remove the lavender buds or loose-leaf tea after steeping is finished. 

You’ll steep the tea and lavender, if used, for three minutes before removing them. You should be left with a relatively strong tea that will be diluted with milk. 

Next, while waiting for the tea to steep, you’ll froth half a cup of warm milk of your choice (oat is an exquisite choice) with a quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract. If you don’t have a frother, a whisk and some elbow grease, or even a handheld mixer, could work excellently. 

When your tea has finished steeping, stir in two to three tablespoons of honey or your sweetener of choice. Finally, add the frothed milk to the tea and stir to combine. 

After these few simple steps, you will have made a luscious, warm and addictive beverage that is arguably the epitome of coziness in the winter.

There are countless modifications and flavors that can be made to a London Fog to suit your fancy, but this recipe is my old reliable. It’s pretty difficult to mess up and once you have the ingredients, you’re only about five minutes away from a lovely, comforting drink. 

And though this recipe is fairly easy to follow, it’s more than understandable if you aren’t feeling up to making a London Fog yourself. A great place to order one is The Goat on Water Street, and my good friend Delia can attest.

Be sure to grant yourself some grace this finals season — maybe trying this recipe at home or ordering a London Fog from a cafe (or having any tea at all) can help.

O’Brien can be reached at [email protected].