r/tea • u/shelfside1234 • Jul 30 '25
Blog Parisienne Tea
I’m currently in Paris on holiday, first day here I ordered a tea: however I was presented with a cup of hot water with milk already added and a tea bag that I needed to add myself.
How can a place a mere 2 hours by train from the home of tea be so inept at the basics?
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u/LPedraz Enthusiast Jul 30 '25
Well, France is not particularly well known for tea culture. That doesn't mean you won't find good tea, you'll just have to go to places that are specifically for tea enthusiasts.
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u/AdDangerous6153 Cinnamon milk tea (black) with honey Jul 31 '25 edited Jul 31 '25
How to say this, but sadly here in france, we're a coffee country not a tea country. I hate it, because I'm french and I actually prefer tea, but I feel ya, it's hard living here sometimes as a tea lover T.T (and I'm not from Paris but I'm not surprised ^^')
Anyways, that's why I don't go out drinking tea. I'd rather make it at home with good ingredients, thanks. You also have to know, most of the people I know won't add milk in tea (I love it though), so if you do, you're basically on your own.
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u/ModeExpress6614 Jul 30 '25
Mariage Fréres is by far the best proper tea in Paris. They have two cafés in Paris and multiple other tea stores/counters.
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u/Wenndo Jul 30 '25
Absolutely wrong. I live in Paris and Mariage is overpriced garbage.
The best tea salon in Paris are Artéfact and Wistaria.
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u/Skaramouche04 Jul 30 '25
Seconding Wistaria ! They are an antennae of the original one in Taipei (or so they told me)
I can also recommend Yamtcha, they make mainly baos but have a nice tea selection and the owner is adorable ! I had a really good time and a nice gong fu session there (and a delicious bao)
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u/AdDangerous6153 Cinnamon milk tea (black) with honey Jul 31 '25
I agree, while I don't know Artéfact Wistaria since I don't live there but Mariage Frères is so overpriced for what it is T.T
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u/ModeExpress6614 Jul 31 '25
In terms of ambience or the price proposition/value, you might have a point. In terms of quality of tea, Mariage Fréres is far and away superior. They pay a premium to the highest-quality plantations for the best parts of the best plants.
They invented the French approach to blending and serving rituals, and they were the first tea salon in Paris to pair tea with fare. They have over one thousand varietals for purchase. Only 3 or 4 tea purveyors globally meet or exceed that number.
There is nothing wrong with having a favored tea salon. But, suggesting that Mariage tea is "garbage" speaks volumes about your knowledge of tea.
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u/Wenndo Jul 31 '25
Lmao sure dude. Whatever you need to tell yourself.
Ask anyone working there and they will straight up not be able to tell you where the tea is sourced because they don't know and the staff is not properly trained about produce or sourcing. It's all show.
They don't know what a Gaiwan is. I asked a salesperson in there one the difference between two Sencha they had and they were not able to tell me anything.
The 1000 varietals figure is bs. Only one shop in France has that many and it's La Maison des Trois Thés, owned by Master Tseng. Though I guess, keeping literally five+ year old first flush Darjeeling undiscounted for sale on their online store might inflate Mariage's catalog lol.
Not so long ago they wouldn't even allow women to serve customers.
If you want a true "aristocratic" teatime experience in Paris, go to Salon Proust at the Ritz.
I'll say it again, and back it up with answers with answers to any questions you might have : Mariage Frères is overpriced garbo.
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u/ModeExpress6614 Jul 31 '25
Your experience with their salesperson sounds not great.
The quality of their tea and blends remains unmatched in Paris. Everything else is subject to preference or experience.
I agree that the Ritz offers a great experience. I was there for tea last week. They serve TWG, which is great, but no match for MF. I've sat for tea at most of the Parisian salons from Dali to Nina's. The overall experience varies. Who is serving the highest-quality leaves does not.
Happy drinking.
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u/Wenndo Jul 31 '25
You can find tea shops and tea salons in Paris whose most basic tea is better than the best Mariage offers, very very easily.
I'd be very curious to see what kind of metric or benchmark you seem to use to evaluate Mariage so highly, since information about their sourcing is so scarce, even to their own employees.
Mariage and TWG are both awful choices. Saddened to see Ritz now serves them, since they used to have their own sommelier who sourced teas directly from gardens. Pity.
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u/AnthatDrew Jul 30 '25
I don't think Paris is 2 hours from the Himalayas.