Shopping in Paris tip #1: Paris tea at your doorstep

6 December 2012 / No Comments

I am partly British by birth. So tea is like, an everyday must have for me.

Now let’s get things straight: the French are great at discovering and making coffees of many sorts. But they have that ability to surprise you.

These guys actually have one of the best ranges of teas I have ever tasted. Ever.

So every Christmas I go to the large department stores and get some Mariage Freres for my family. The packaging is awesome, authentic, you can keep it when it’s empty (not just ecological but you will NOT want to throw away the tins and boxes as they are so beautiful) and the main point: it’s delicious.

They have a massive selection of different flavoured teas and different types too (green, black, white, herbal…). MY favourite is the Marco Polo. The packaging is gorgeous and my friends and family adore me (even more) after I have showered them in tea coated present love.

This year, their Noel packaging is particularly awesome AND (I checked with the people in the shop), if you buy online you actually can get shipped pretty much anywhere on the planet.

Sorry? Are you still here? Reading this? You mean you haven’t started French tea Christmas shopping yet?

This is their online shop and my favourites are posted at the bottom of this post. Really, it’s a great present and such a beautiful taste of France.

The little bit of HISTORY: one of the first French tea connoisseurs was Louis XIV. It is reported that in 1665 his doctors prescribed tea ‘to aid digestion’. The king, having also been told that neither the Chinese nor Japanese suffered from gout or cardiac disorders, drank tea regularly for his health.

Around 1840, the royal beverage became the preferred drink of gentlemen who frequented court circles and aristocratic salons.
The French now drink 210 grams of tea per person per year, or about 100 cups.

So be royal, be aristocratic! Happy tea infused shopping to you all xoxoxoxo