Yesterday, I was approached by a tourist on Piccadilly who asked me where to buy tea in London. She then added in broken English, “Where do you buy your tea?”.
Quality London Tea Stores
Where I buy my tea in London and where she should buy her tea are two distinct questions which, as a savvy Londoner, I shall explain.
A tourist is looking for authentic English tea accompanied with a great “buying experience”. They may want to be attended by a suited man in a tail coat who can explain, with great aplomb, the history, geography and science of tea and guide them to making a selection.
Ideally, the tea will be sold by weight and on the wall, behind our tail coated expert, will be dozens of liveried tea caddies, preferably adorned with Royal Warrants.
After all we want to drink what King Charles drinks, don’t we?
As we were on Piccadilly, I pointed my tea questioning tourist to two Royal Warrant bearing stores.
Fortnum and Mason is My Personal Choice for Tea Buying in London
181 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1A 1ER
Fortnum and Mason has been selling tea since people did their shopping using a horse and carriage.
Nowhere in London will you find tea of such quality and with such exquisite blends.
You can be sure that whenever there is a Royal occasion, Fortnum and Mason will bring out a blended tea to commemorate it. Currently, they have special caddies of organic Darjeeling to mark the Coronation of King Charles III.
As I write this post, I am sipping their Mother’s Day Tea which has a distinctive blend of rose and bergamot…it’s subtle which I like, as I am drinking it black. I also have a penchant for full bodied Assam teas. I bought their Irish Tea which is a bold, in your face tea, for early in the morning when you’ve run out of coffee.
Fortnum’s makes an amazing effort with its window design. Its probably the best in London check out these amazing windows made entirely with coloured paper. If you are in London at Christmas their windows are always a delight with several aimed solely at children.
At Twinings You Can Buy Quality Tea and Enjoy its Unique Tea Sampling Bar
216 Strand London WC2R 1AP
Twinings is another Royal Warrant bearing, tea shop steeped in 300 years of history.
After the Great Fire of London, Thomas Twining, an astute business man realised that the upper classes would be relocating from the burnt out City to the West End. He chose this prime position on the Strand and made tea a fashionable drink amongst the upper class ladies of London.
Ever innovative, Twinings now has a premium sampling bar where you can ask to taste teas that have caught your eye and chat to experts for recommendations.
If you are looking for a special gift, you can create your own personalised selection of tea and request that it be packaged in a deluxe wooden Twinings box.
Mariage Freres Sells a 1000 Teas from 36 Countries
38 King Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8JS
Mariage Freres, founded in 1854, may be an unusual choice for a London tea store as it is proudly French!
I mention it because it has an apothecary style of service with tea experts selling tea by weight. The caddies are luxurious with their period black and cream branding.
This is the perfect store for a day of tea indulgence. It has the longest tea wall in the world selling a 1000 teas from 36 countries. On one of the upper floors there is a tea museum.
The Marco Polo blend with notes of flowers and fruits is one of their most popular blends.
If you are enjoying this post on Where to Buy Tea in London you may also enjoy reading about our recent discovery of Postcard Teas London Roast.
Where to Buy Tea in London as a Londoner?
Let’s return to the original question that I was asked by our Piccadilly tourist, where do I buy my tea?
I buy my tea in the Waitrose supermarket! Since I have cut down on dairy and caffeine I have a large selection of herbal Pukka teas. My black tea of choice is Yorkshire tea.
Londoners seem to be evenly divided on whether they prefer PG Tips or Yorkshire Tea for their breakfast blend – I am firmly in the Yorkshire Tea camp.
Before you call me a Philistine, I do have a kitchen cupboard rammed full of gifted Fortnum and Twining teas.
Londoners are a busy bunch. They rarely buy loose tea.
A quick dunk of a tea bag in stained mug is the most that we can usually manage. After all, we are are not the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, or the Queen with Paddington bear, pouring from a Wedgwood tea pot and passing the milk and sugar.
Incidentally, if you find yourself near the budget store Lidl, I find their award winning Knightsbridge Gold tea to be one of the best.
Tea Paraphernalia
It seems to have become uncouth to have sugar in your tea. Most Londoners will only have fresh cold milk (poured in last, please).
La Perruche Sugar Cubes
However, if you are using your posh tea set, you will get some kudos for offering hand cut La Perruche sugar cubes in a lidded container with a pair of sugar tongs. OK, people may think that you are a bit mad but please channel your inner Countess.
The Brown Betty Teapot
The Brown Betty Teapot with its locking lid and non drip spout is a utilitarian design classic that dates back to 1700.
There’s a big debate on whether a tea pot should be cleaned. My neighbour was distraught when a friend scrubbed the inside of their Brown Betty teapot removing the build up of tannins as their tea never tasted the same.
A Wedgwood Tea Service
If you want to imitate Countess Crawley or Queen Elizabeth II you could do no better than buying a Wedgwood service.
The individual items can be pricy. A Wedgwood teapot may set you back £200 in Harrods. So think like a savvy Londoner and search for “tea sets” or “tea services” on eBay or Facebook Market Place, sorting by”Distance first” so you can collect in person.
If you develop a passion for Fortnum and Mason you may enjoy our blog post on our dream Fortnum’s food hamper May you have many happy hours buying tea in London.
Next week, I will be answering another pressing tourist question, so I will be looking friendly and approachable as I walk the streets of London. Please check back to see what thorny dilemma I address.
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