French Tea And Me

Of all the Australian Capital cities, Melbourne is considered the most ‘European’.

Melbournians can thank the large influx of Italian and Greek immigrants back in the 1950s for that title – their culture and customs have meshed with ours over years. As a result, our city is known for atmospheric laneways overflowing with great delicatessens, restaurants, bars and, of course, coffee shops.

Given our immigration history, it makes sense that Melbourne is coffee city. You can get amazing coffee in Melbourne. And although I haven’t touched the stuff for years, I still love the smell that wafts from the local cafés.

However for all of our great coffee, it is kind of hard to get good tea here. Tearooms are a bit of rarity and although you can always order tea in Melbourne cafés, sometimes you have to be ready for the old teabag in the pot trick.

When we first travelled to France, I was a bit surprised to discover how much the French love tea. I think it was because I’d assumed that coffee was a big deal in all of Europe. And then there are all the Parisian cafés serving all of those little cups of hot, black coffee.

However, little bit of googling informed me that the French have long had a fascination with tea, a beverage which was originally reserved for the wealthy.

French tea is generally considered to be delicate, balanced and refined – unsurprising when you consider the French obsession with quality, especially when it comes to anything relating to the palate! The same work that goes into creating excellent wine or chocolate is also put into blending teas.

I won’t surprise anyone to learn that I am a big fan of French teas, and in particular,  their tisanes (herbal teas).

My go-to French brands include Marriage Frères (I love their range of Beautiful Tea For Beautiful People), Dammann Frères (it seems brothers are good at French tea) and the exquisitely packaged Kusmi-Tea.

Whenever I’m in Paris, I drink far more tea than I do when I’m in Melbourne. Ornately decorated establishments like Angelina and Ladurée provide endless temptation – I’m always happy to take a break in the afternoon to enjoy a pot of tea and little sweet treat.

Even Cafés Richard, coffee stockist to many a French café makes a beautiful tisane, so I’m covered even if I’m miles away from one of the big name tearooms.

Do you have a favourite spot to stop for tea while you are in Paris? If so, I’d love for you to share it in the comments section below – and I’ll be sure to check it out when we next visit the City of Light. 

Until next time – au revoir.

Please note – this is an unsolicited post and no compensation of any kind has been received from the brands named in the post…I just really like them!