We Londoners take pride in our love of tea, but French emporium Mariage Frères puts us to shame. Originally founded as an import company in 1854, it’s become a Parisian institution, selling hundreds of varieties of thé in an old-world setting. And now you don’t even need to hop on the Eurostar for a taste, because Mariage Frères has opened its first London shop in a Georgian townhouse in Covent Garden.
Step inside and choose your brew from a seemingly endless (and very Instagrammable) wall of vintage-style canisters, then pay for your purchase at a wood-panelled booth manned by white-jacketed staff. If you’re a real tea lover – and you know you are – head up to the first floor, where an all-day salon de thé infuses everything from scrambled eggs to cocktails with matcha, rooibos or lapsang souchong. And if you still aren’t chai-ed out, check out the shop’s museum and familiarise yourself with the historic tea trade. Cup of builder’s, anyone?