Warm the whipping cream in a small saucepan. (Do not boil). Stir in Earl Grey tea bags.

Remove from heat. Cover and allow tea to steep in the cream for 1 hour.

Pass infused cream through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the tea bags.

With a kitchen scale, re-weigh the tea-infused cream. Top up with extra cream. You should have 240 milliliters (1 cup) total.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork or a wire whisk. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine Earl Grey-infused cream, whole milk, granulated sugar, and fine sea salt. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves.

Pour a small amount of the hot cream mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Continue tempering hot into cold, a few splashes at a time, whisking well after each addition, until you’ve added about half of the hot cream.

Pour tempered mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Whisk in vanilla bean paste and vodka, if using.

Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or overnight.

Whisk chilled base briskly to recombine. Pour into ice cream maker, with bowl frozen according to manufacturer’s instructions. Churn until thick and creamy, about 20 minutes, or until consistency resembles soft serve ice cream.

Scoop ice cream into a freezer-safe container. Freeze 2-4 hours prior to serving, or until ice cream reaches scoopable consistency.

Store Earl Grey ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month.