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Best assam tea variety and best London hotel afternoon tea experience

Dear fellow tea lovers,

I have three requests which I hope you could help me with. I am a British resident in Tokyo but visiting London with my wife next month.

  1. We've tried afternoon tea at the Dorchester last Christmas on my wife's first UK visit and this time, we have booked the Ritz in Picadilly. Do you have a personal recommendation for the best hotel afternoon tea experience in London ?

  1. Where can I find the best, top quality, assam tea in London ? I know it's subjective but I am on a quest to find the perfect blend and wondered on your advice, what kind of variety I should be looking for if money is no object. The ideal assam tea for me would be very strong yet not bitter, smooth malty taste, excellent with milk and a great "pick me up". My assam of choice here in Tokyo is "SANKAR BOP", which is supplied by the French company Mariage Freres, T162.

  1. How good a company are Mariage Freres ? I just wondered, I've always been very impressed with their service and regularly visit their Japanese headquarters in Tokyo. Are there any other particular places you would recommend tea-lovers to visit in Japan ? Or, for that matter, in London!

Thank you very much for your feedback. I hope to receive many replies.

Richard MORT

Reply to
Richard
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Choices, choices

Reply to
JB

Well, Ritz is one of the top afternoon tea place in London. 27 GBP per person. Everyone has to wear jacket and tie. You have to book advance. Other top places are:

The Carlton tower- Cadogan Palace The Dorchester- Park lane Fortnum and Mason- at Piccadilly, not so far from Ritz. My first preference because they are serving tea almost 300 years. Huge collection of tea from all around the world.

Actually, I don't like London for tea that much except some nice, cozy small traditional tea rooms. Their style is more then tea steeping art. I went their for business so I had to go their for meeting and tea. Wearing jacket and tie and tea, wait a second- doesn't suit with my tea taste. When people drinks tea their- rather then relax, they become more busy with their dress up. Look around and try to compare a lot of thing. I prefer to sit with my own Yixing pot and brew a perfect cup of Bai Ji guan. Their tea knowledge is not fantastic either. Well but still an experience -:)

Your tea taste is very much English that's why your favorite choice in Japan is Sankar BOP. British people like blend tea more then single estate. Nothing wrong with it, just different taste. Try Harrods blend49 and their Assam. You will also like Twinings- Assam and OP(blend of Ceylon and Indian tea).

Mariage Freres is not my favorite, so I am not the person to talk about it.

Your welcome Richard. Enjoy your trip and don't forget to go to Harrods and try their blend-49. If you see anything new, don't forget to let us know. Thanks.

Ripon Vienna,VA

Reply to
Ripon

Hotels, tearooms, I've no idea, sorry.

To buy Assam, Drury has a decent selection of indian teas that are generally inexpensive. The shop is in Covent Garden (Covent Garden or, better, Leicester Sq tubes). The street is called New Row, and is a side street connecting St Martins Lane and the big CG Tescos.

Around Picadilly Circus / Haymarket (probably at Sri Lankan embassy) there's a teashop for Ceylon teas only.

Aside from that, you could check out Twinings (at least to visit the shop) far end of The Strand. Also check out the tea museum at London Bridge (there was a thread on this maybe a year back you could find).

Personally, I get my assam in Paris. In shops that don't sell bl'dy coffee!

Reply to
The Immoral Mr Teas

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