Tea shops · Brighton, United Kingdom
Tea shops · Brighton, United KingdomWhittard of Chelsea Brighton
Whittard of Chelsea's Brighton shop, steps from the seafront on East Street, with loose leaf in pouches and caddies beside its coffee and hot chocolate.
A chain shop with a chain's catalogue. What earns it a place is the 10,95 £ pouch: 100 g of a proper loose leaf black tea, a few streets from the pier.
Whittard of Chelsea dates its first shop to 1886 and names its 1886 blend after that year. Its Brighton branch is at 51 East Street, which the company describes as just steps from the seafront. It opens Monday to Saturday 10:00–18:00 and Sunday 10:00–17:00, is wheelchair accessible through a double door with step-free access, and offers click and collect: order online and pick the parcel up in store. The shelves run tea, coffee and hot chocolate, with staff the company calls its in-store experts, and a Taste Promise that lets you return a tea you did not like to the shop for a refund or an exchange.
The loose leaf comes in two formats, a pouch and a caddy, and the pouch is where the value is. English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Darjeeling and Tippy Assam are 10,95 £ for a 100 g pouch; the same teas in a caddy are 14,95 £. The English Breakfast is unusual for the style: instead of the customary Assam, Ceylon and Kenya blend it is sourced entirely from West Java, in Indonesia. The Earl Grey blends four black teas with bergamot and cornflower petals; the Darjeeling is a second flush picked in May and June; the Tippy Assam is a small, neat leaf with plenty of golden tips, meant for breakfast with a splash of milk.
The upper shelf looks east: Sencha Asagiri, a steamed green tea from a family garden in Kirishima, at 15,95 £ for 100 g; a Taiwanese Milk Oolong of the Jin Xuan cultivar, hand-rolled into tight balls, at 19,95 £ for 100 g; Silver Needle white tea at 19,95 £ for a 50 g pouch; and an organic ceremonial matcha from Makinohara in a 30 g tin at 22,00 £. Everything here is the national catalogue, so what the shelf lacks can be ordered online and collected in the shop, and the chain's rewards scheme, student and key worker discounts apply at the till as they do online.
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Where it is
East Street
51 East Street, Brighton BN1 1HN
Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun 10:00–17:00
What to buy here
English Breakfast
English Breakfast Loose Leaf Tea
from £ 10.95 · 100 g pouch
A breakfast blend sourced entirely from West Java rather than the usual Assam, Ceylon and Kenya mix, which makes it close to a single origin. Smooth and malty, built for a splash of cold milk; the 100 g pouch is the format to buy.
See our page on this tea →Sencha
Sencha Asagiri Loose Leaf Tea
from £ 15.95 · 100 g pouch
A steamed Japanese green from Kirishima, where the fog the garden is named for slows the leaf's growth; the company says the same family has tended it for three generations. Sweet and velvety, the green tea to pick over the flavoured ones.
See our page on this tea →Milk Oolong
Milk Oolong Loose Leaf Tea
£ 19.95 · 100 g pouch
A Taiwanese Jin Xuan oolong, lightly oxidised and hand-rolled into balls that unfurl to the whole leaf. Naturally creamy with nothing added; brew it short at 75–85 °C for the floral side, longer for the buttery one.
See our page on this tea →
The one worth the trip
Silver Needle Loose Leaf Tea
from £ 19.95 · 50 g pouch
Silver Needle, Baihao Yinzhen, made only from young buds withered and dried with almost no handling, in a 50 g pouch. Light, silky and honeyed, it is the one tea on this shelf that asks to be brewed gently and drunk on its own, and the one worth the walk from the pier when the rest of the catalogue is at home.
See our page on this tea →All prices
Open a tea to see who else sells it.
| Tea | Type | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Breakfast Loose Leaf Tea | Black tea | from £ 10.95 | 100 g pouch |
| Earl Grey Loose Leaf Tea | Black tea | from £ 10.95 | 100 g pouch |
| Darjeeling Loose Leaf Tea | Black tea | from £ 10.95 | 100 g pouch |
| Tippy Assam Loose Leaf Tea | Black tea | £ 10.95 | 100 g pouch |
| Sencha Asagiri Loose Leaf Tea | Green tea | from £ 15.95 | 100 g pouch |
| Milk Oolong Loose Leaf Tea | Oolong tea | £ 19.95 | 100 g pouch |
| Silver Needle Loose Leaf Tea | White tea | from £ 19.95 | 50 g pouch |
| Matcha Ceremonial Grade Green Tea Powder | Matcha | £ 22 | 30 g tin |
Teas you can find here
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