Tea kick off facts
As you may know already, France do not produce tea. Therefore, France import tea from all over the world. Then, tea arrives to our Paris precious best tea spots, boutiques and saloons. These are the best tea spots in Paris.
We can find all sorts of places in Paris with different tea approaches according to the different cultures of tea and their origins. Chinese traditional tea, Japanese, Russian, English, French tea, etc.
We can import tea from diverse origins. China, India, Sri Lanka, Kenia, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam among others.
You can drink tea in many ways. Hot, cold (ice tea), icecreaaaaaammm (yeahh), etc.
What kind of Tea can we find these days in Paris?
Paris offers through their stores and boutiques all kinds of tea; black tea, green tea, read tea and white tea. These days we also have blue and Yellow. All these nuances are a matter of oxidation. Indeed, we may compare this oxidation process, to the coffee roasters “Maillard Reaction”.
For instance, Blue tea, is somewhere between black and green tea when it comes to the process. Hence, is by applying oxidation half the road, between one and the other. Also, it is off season, so it is a rarity. In fact, they produce a very good one in New Zealand but could be close to 80 euros for 100grs.
On the other side, we create Yellow tea, taking a special Chinese green tea and applying negative oxidation to it. Furthermore, this means the lack of oxygen. In a word, that is how Yellow tea is born.
On the contrary, but not so far, in a more detailed way. Some experts classify tea in 6 categories. On the whole, Black / Red tea, Oolong / Wulong tea, Green tea, Yellow tea, White tea, Fermented & Pu´erh.
What is the Paris by Martin fav tea spots?
Firstly, I can say that it could be an easy internet search to pick Angelina as a tea saloon. Of course, you are not going to be disappointed in terms of quality and decoration. As far as the tourist crowd issue, also the fact of waiting in line. Besides, the fact that there are better places if you want to focus in tea itself, is a good place. Sure. You can also try La Duree at Champs Elysees. The same spot profile for tourism crowds looking for a Marie Antoinetish kind of thing.
If you are a tea lover and you want to focus in the French tea world experience and nothing else the mains choices are two. Dammann Frères or, my day to day and favorite French tea… Mariage Frères. Everybody in da´house say yeahh!
Well, is not a secret, we pretty much all know about and love Mariage Frères.
French tea approach is about adding some floral and or fruits natural flavors to high quality tea. Consequently Mariage Frères is my number one pick when it comes to French tea.
The case of Mariage Frères tea boutiques
In brief, I love quality, details, vintage decoration and charm. This brand makes the choice easier for myself and a lot of Parisians like me. Their boutiques are a travel in time. They have more than 10 stores. The choices of stores give you the opportunity of choosing a spot off the beaten track. Away from turists´ crowds. My favorite, is the one in Saint Germain area. They import tea since 1854!
My “must have” of Mariage Frères are: Vert Provence (green tea lavender roses and berries), Sweet Shanghai (green tea and mis of flowers), Bolero (black tea peach and apricot), Marco Polo (Black tea, best seller and secret recipe), Sakura (white tea with cherries). There you go! You save years of research tigers! Like a big time 3, last second!
Further, in their shops you find the most charming wooden counters where you can purchase your tea. More than 400 choices! You can also find a tea saloon when you can do a degustation and also lunch. Love it!
A world acclaimed classic Chinese tea boutique in Paris
If we talk about classic non-French tea in Paris, there may be a very few iconic spots. There are maybe 4 or 5 recognized big masters of Tea in the entire world. Among this exclusive group there is only a woman.
This Lady is Madame Tseng and she is based in Paris. She has the biggest “Tea Bank” in Europe in her “Maison des Trois Thés”.
She has travelled to extreme environments all around the planet to get the best and most hard to get tea ever. From high mountain areas, to unreachable deep spots in exotic rainforests, and so on.
Did you know that the most expensive tea is far more expensive then the most expensive coffee? Did you know that there are millenary teas that could cost more than a million euros? For beginners, for experts. An exotic universe to discover in Paris. A must for tea lovers in Paris!
How Paris by Martin can help you find the best tea spots?
Paris by Martin is your best tour-host in Paris. We do not have any kind of agreements with any resturant, cafe, shop or whatever. therefore, our clients / friends they have one single important rule to respect. In brief, never mention Martin or his company name in any spot we recommend. We do not get money or other from them. Martin does not want that, and is not our job at all to do so. We only earn with our own effort and dedication. We only want the best for our guys.
Our unprecedented concept, passion, love for details and dedication make us the best service ever in Paris. Check our tours and reserve. We are your key to Paris. We are the Paris you are looking for!