Mariage Frères

Mariage Frères dates itself to 1 June 1854, when Henri and Édouard Mariage founded their tea house in Paris; their father and uncle already lived on rue du Bourg-Tibourg, and their grandfather had traded tea, spices and vanilla in Lille. For well over a century the firm sold to hotels, fine grocers and tea rooms, not to passers-by. Retail only came in 1984, on that same street in the Marais, where the house says the old Chinese tea chests, scales, sieves and counter are still in use.

Loose tea is sold by weight, the classics in the house's black pouch, mostly from 100 g and often up to 1 kg. The everyday end runs €12 to €17 per 100 g: Earl Grey and Pu-erh, then Yunnan Impérial, Marco Polo, its rooibos twin Marco Polo Rouge and Earl Grey French Blue. Named-origin teas climb quickly, through Sencha Ariake, Tung Ting and a 2026 spring Castleton Darjeeling to Gyokuro Kagoshima at €78. Oriental Beauty, the yellow Huang Cha and Yin Zhen, the priciest here at over €100 per 100 g, start at 50 g.

The Marais is one of seven Mariage Frères counters in Paris; the others are at Étoile, Rive Gauche, the Madeleine, Montorgueil, rue Cler and rue de Rennes. At Bourg-Tibourg the restaurant and tea room open at noon every day, and at the time of writing the menu listed brunch from €36 and afternoon tea from €45 per person, with teas up to €12 on the list included. Guided tastings are separate: the Tea Club workshops run at rue Cler, near the Eiffel Tower. The house also keeps a Musée du Thé of oak blending chests, lacquered tea crates and Henri Mariage's sample cases.