Tea houses
A working shortlist, not a ranking: places with a genuine tea specialism, worth seeking out over a generic café that happens to have a teapot on the menu. Names and locations change, so it's worth confirming a spot is still open before making a special trip.
London
- Twinings, Strand: trading from the same address since 1706, making it the oldest continuously run tea shop in London and a genuine piece of tea history, not just a retail stop.
- Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly: the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012, sits above a ground-floor tea counter stocking one of the city's widest ranges of loose-leaf tea.
- The Ritz, Piccadilly: the Palm Court afternoon tea is the most classically ceremonial version of the London tea-room experience, and usually needs booking well in advance.
Brussels
- Tea For Two, Ixelles: a long-running institution with an extensive tea list, closer to a dedicated tea room than a café that also serves tea.
- Comptoir Florian: set in an Art Nouveau townhouse, known for pairing tea with homemade cake in a quiet, unhurried setting.
- Maison Renardy, Matonge: family-run since 1912, one of the older tea houses in the city, with tea still served on a silver platter.
Paris
- Mariage Frères: founded in 1854 and probably France's best-known tea house, with roots tracing back to a family that traded for the East India Company in the 17th century.
- Palais des Thés: started in 1986 by François-Xavier Delmas and a group of friends, it now runs its own Paris tea school alongside its shops.
- Maison des Trois Thés, Latin Quarter: stocks over a thousand teas and offers tastings by reservation using the traditional Gong Fu Cha method, for anyone wanting to go deep rather than just browse.
New York
- Harney & Sons, SoHo: the retail home of one of the best-known American tea companies, stocking around 250 varieties from classic blends to rarer single-origin teas.
- T Shop: focused on Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean tea, with a long tea bar for brewing at your own pace rather than a quick counter service.
- Bosie Tea Parlor, West Village: a full afternoon-tea experience built around more than 100 loose-leaf teas.