The city guide · United Kingdom
The city guide · United KingdomTea shops inTower Hamlets, London.
Most of London's famous tea names sit in Mayfair, Covent Garden or Notting Hill, which is another borough and another afternoon. Inside Tower Hamlets the list is short and specific: a Japanese tea room on Brick Lane with a tatami room in the basement, a matcha counter in Canary Wharf, and the Brick Lane grocery where the neighbourhood has bought its everyday leaf for decades. Between them you can buy a 50 g packet of Uji gyokuro, a tin of ceremonial matcha and a kilo of Indian black tea within twenty minutes of each other. Prices are in pounds with VAT included, and we add two nationwide online sellers for the leaf nobody in the borough stocks.
Illustrative tea photograph
3 places we’d send a friend to.
Our Tower Hamlets, London shortlist
Good tea is worth knowing where to look.
Places to explore, each with a different reason to stop by. See what to bring home before you go.
Showing 3 of 3 places
- 01Loose-leaf specialist
Katsute100
Brick Lane, Spitalfields
6 prices listedKatsute100
147 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB
A Japanese tea room on Brick Lane with a tatami room in the basement and Uji gyokuro sold over the counter.
In storeShips onlineMon–Sun 11:00–20:00
Read the full shop note
A Japanese tea room at 147 Brick Lane, open every day from 11:00 to 20:00, where the shop says the space is divided by vintage Japanese screens and the basement holds a tatami room that can be reserved. Everything poured upstairs is sold to take home in 50 g packets: an organic Fukamushi Sencha Asanoka at 19,95 £, a Kyoho Sencha at 23,50 £, an Uji Premium Gyokuro at 25,85 £, a hojicha at 16,90 £ and a ginger oolong at 21,50 £, with a Ceremonial Matcha Karin at 38,00 £ for 30 g. Soft-serve matcha ice cream and sake at the counter; the house runs five sites across London and Edinburgh.
What to bring home
Website: katsute100.com- SenchaOrganic Fukamushi Sencha Asanoka 50g£ 19.95 · 50 g
- MatchaCeremonial Matcha Karin 30g£ 38 · 30 g
- Oolong teaOolong Black Ginger 50g£ 21.50 · 50 g
The everyday option
3 prices listedYumtea
16-19 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5EQ
An Asian cafe-patisserie at 16-19 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, open from 7:30 on weekdays, which makes it the earliest counter on this page. What it packages to take away is matcha and nothing else: a No. 1 ceremonial grade at 24,00 £ for a 50 g tin, a No. 3 ceremonial at 18,00 £ for the same tin, and a No. 2 culinary in a 500 g bag at 50,00 £ for anyone baking with it. The kitchen side is cakes, shokupan and katsu sando; teaware is listed as coming soon. There is a second site in Holborn.
In storeShips onlineMon–Fri 7:30–19:30 · Sat 10:00–20:00 · Sun 11:00–18:00
What to bring home
Website: yumtea.co.ukThe everyday option
1 prices listedTaj Stores
112 Brick Lane, London E1 6RL
The South Asian grocery at 112 Brick Lane, open 9:00 to 21:00 every day, and the reason nobody in Banglatown pays boutique prices for everyday tea. The shelves carry Tata, Wagh Bakri, Ahmad, Brooke Bond, Twinings, Natco and TRS by the kilo: a Tata Tea Agni leaf kilo is 9,49 £, which is under a pound per hundred grams. Stock moves fast and the online listings follow it, so several of the big bags were sold out at the time of writing — one more argument for walking in.
In storeShips onlineEvery day 9:00–21:00
What to bring home
Website: tajstores.co.uk- Black teaTata Tea Agni Leaf 1kg£ 9.49 · 1 kg
Prices keep each product’s listed currency and pack size. Check current prices and hours with the shop.
A good cup, closer than you think
Find your tea in Tower Hamlets, London.
These teas have an exact or close match in the local catalogue. Open a tea to see who sells it and at what price.
Also worth a visit
East London Tea Company
Bethnal Green, Hackney Road · 499 Hackney Road, London E2 9ED
A tea company with a shop on a Tower Hamlets street and the strongest candidate for this page, except that its domain does not resolve today: there is no product page to open and therefore no price to read. If the site returns, this is the first shop we will add.
Ask for prices in storeMae + Harvey
Bethnal Green, Roman Road · 140 Roman Road, London E2 0RY
A Roman Road shop we could not price either: none of the addresses its listings give for a website answers, so there is no catalogue of its own to read.
Ask for prices in storeA little local knowledge
Before you head out.
Currency, grams & tea bags
Each price keeps its original pack size. A box of bags and a pouch of loose leaf aren’t a like-for-like comparison.
Check the right location
Hours and visiting conditions can differ between branches. Use the address and details for the location you plan to visit.
Pickup and appointments
Some sellers operate pickup offices or showrooms. Read the shop note and check its visiting conditions before setting out.
A guide with a point of view
Tea specialists lead the discovery. Other retailers keep their own category, for familiar blends and everyday essentials.
Keep following the tea
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Photography & credits
Tea photographs are illustrative unless identified as a photograph of the shop. Images are cropped or framed to fit the layout.
- 五玄土 ORIENTO · Original photograph · Unsplash License