Twist

I travel in France first time and I don't know how to choose. Would you tell me?

bilboburgler

It depends, many cafes have a surprisingly large selection though often from tea companies of an "interesting" nature. The French serve tea a strange way they normally give you a glass (or cup) of hot water and a small bag containing a bag of tea with perhaps a piece of lemon and sometimes a tiny jug of milk, they may ask about the milk or the lemon. The teas are either selected for you or you get shown a tray of various teas.

My safe favorite

Earl Grey is pretty much everywhere, it is normally pretty good Earl Grey as long as long as it is served in a hermetically sealed bag or container (in today's polluting world it will normally be in a plastic bag, but hey who cares about the world)

English Breakfast tea, a large leafed black tea often good if you like that

Green tea,

Various fruit teas

BTW afternoon tea is not a French meal or concept. There is no "it's 4 it's tea time" mentality.

StCirq

Afternoon tea is not French, though any place that serves beverages will be happy to sell you a pot of tea. Sometimes there`s a selection, sometimes not. If you want a pastry or something to go with it, you order that separately. Just don`t expect tea sandwiches or scones with clotted cream.

massimop

If you particularly like tea and are going to Paris, you can find a few Japanese tea houses, and some that are British themed, as well as "salons de the" that serve French pastries

https://independenttravelcats.com/fr...oon-tea-paris/

You will also find in supermarkets, health food stores and gourmet shops the wide selections of imported teas to buy in packages that you would find in other capital cities in the world.

massimop

By the way, I think the most characteristically "French" tea is the high-end
Mariage Frères label, and there are several address in Paris where you can sample it (they are listed in the link that I posted)

nini

It is hard to go wrong with Darjeeling and it is about as common as Earl Grey.

bvlenci

A cup of hot water and a tea bag on the side is what you get in Italy, too. I've totally stopped ordering tea out, because you can't get a decent cup of tea out of tepid (by the time it reaches you) water. I order what Italians know how to make: coffee.

bilboburgler

In both France and Italy you can get a teapot. It takes time and you may have to change city but it is possible. Then you have to explain about putting the water in last.....

massimop

But you can actually get wonderful tea in tea salons in Paris. It's not like Italy, where I can't recall ever seeing a dedicated tea salon (although they might have existed in Venice or Florence at some time, or Rome or parts of Liguria. Maybe even now you could find one in Milan especially a Japanese tea shop.)

There are many people in Paris -- native Parisians -- who patronize tea salons. They are not just for tourists. Mariage Freres is a favorite brand of tea of many people beyond France.

I am not sure that the French make tea to the liking of British travelers, but Brits are not the only tea drinkers in Europe.

I also wanted to add that there are some places in Paris serving sweet teas in the fashion of northern Africa or parts of the Middle East.

Kay_P

I am a tea drinker. I visit Paris whenever I can. Yes, you will find many places to serve you a tepid cup of tea. However, there are places to have a wonderful pot of tea.

Laduree, Angelina's, Marriage Freres all serve lovely tea.

For reviews of afternoon tea in higher end hotels see this blog:

https://www.ohhowcivilized.com/?s=paris+

I had a great tea experience on the Ile St. Louis last summer. Cannot remember the name. Served beautiful pastries. Small shop.

massimop

Kay_P

It might have been La Charlotte de l’isle. Long time established

http://www.lacharlottedelisle.fr/

Underhill

All over France you will find salons de thé, tea salons, which serve light meals and assorted pastries. There are good teas on offer; my favorite is Assam.

MmePerdu

I'm a tea drinker and the Mariage Freres Marais location is THE place for a haute French tea experience. That's not to say it's my favorite, it isn't, but if you want the best they'll be the first to tell you, it's there. Once was enough for me but it is fun once.

https://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/res...g_tibourg.html

Twist

I do not like tea bags, I like loose tea.

bilboburgler

Twist, good luck with that

StCirq

Yes, really. I would never go to France with fussy tea habits.

bvlenci

There is actually a tea room in the Officina Farmaceutica Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, and I actually had a good pot of tea there. It's a bit far to go for my cuppa.

Loose tea is very hard to find in Italy, but it's getting hard to find in the UK and Ireland, too. The last time I was in Ireland, I actually bought tea bags in a supermarket, because they had no loose tea.

I can get a good Ceylon tea, loose, at an organic grocery about 15 miles from where I live, but I often make due with tea bags.

In both France and Italy you can get a teapot. It takes time and you may have to change city but it is possible. Then you have to explain about putting the water in last.....

Most of the time in Italy, even at places that fancy themselves tea rooms, the pot arrives at the table empty. The water (tepid) is in a little metal container on the side. They fill it from the little nozzle they use to steam the milk for cappuccino, so it doesn't even start out hot enough.

I once saw an Italian lady make tea in a pot, for six people... with one tea bag.

massimop

Twist,

You probably should clarify all that you are looking for and where you are going. Half the people answering you want to mock you for wanting to enjoy tea in France. The other half want to help you find it, because such enjoyment certainly exists, but you might need to e-mail places to confirm they offer loose tea, not just tea in bags.

The links that have been posted here show many high-end afternoon tea venues in Paris (if you are going, including formal afternoon teas with clotted cream or champagne service, or live music. Other tea venues are not in that style, but are dedicated to the enjoyment of tea as a beverage and even as a ritual.

Since the afternoon tea venues in Paris are generally expensive, I highly recommend e-mailing them directly if it is not clear from their websites as to exactly how they are serving their tea.

It is true that many of us no longer go to France with high expectations for anything related to food or drink, perhaps with the exception of wine, and some people are apparently totally unaware of the high standards many French have for tea drinking. But if you use the links posted I think you will come out ahead.

bilboburgler

Just to be clear I do not want to mock Twist at all and do not believe I have. I do want to be clear about what to expect in the very vast majority of France.

Real tea (not bags) continues to be sold in Yorkshire. ;-)

massimop

One more for Twist (and Kay_P)

http://theteamaestro.blogspot.it/201...-tea-time.html