There's hardly a city in the world where there aren't dozens, or even hundreds, of coffee stores.

We've come a long way in the last decade in satisfying and creating connoisseurs of coffee.

Tea drinkers have been left far, far behind. Coffee shops pride themselves on the training given to their barristas, the freshness of their coffee, the range on offer, the quality of their advanced machines, but when it comes to tea drinkers, we're offered the equivalent of Nescafe instant. No teapot in sight. Tea choices have actually got worse for most of us in the 'West'. We've regressed.

It's no wonder hardly anyone drinks it. And when they do, given how badly prepared it usually is, people would rather be drinking something else.

Yet a good cup of tea is something special. It's not hard to prepare, but one needs to understand the process (which varies from tea to tea) and be methodical. It's very little different from coffee.

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So the question is where can you enjoy a properly made cup of tea?

LONDON

The only answers that spring to mind are in the Fortnum and Mason Salons, the Goring Hotel, and other prestigious Hotels in London. All of these are frightfully expensive places to enjoy a cup of tea. If you want to have it at the Ritz, you'll need to book weeks in advance.

There is also http://www.teapalace.co.uk/, but I haven't been here yet.

EDIT TO ADD: I found what I hoped for see post#9


TOKYO
Green Bird
http://homepage3.nifty.com/cafemania...greenbird.html
Yotsuya 2-14 MAP (Yotsuya San Chome station to the left)

Hua Tai Tea
http://www.chinatea.co.jp
Dogenzaka 1-18-6 MAP (Shibuya station to the right)

recs in English here:
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyofooddri...ddrinksinc.htm
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyofeature...storiesinc.htm
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...51C0A9649C8B63
(In fact there are probably too many to try and list - I can't even list most of my favourites as I don't know what they were called, I could only find the two I listed above)

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Any other top tips for tip top tea around the world?

Depends on your definition of 'good'.

The Half Moon Café on Fulham Palace Road does fantastic mugs of tea to accompany their rather excellent fry-ups.

Do they pour it from a big pot? Or do they make it in the mug and (the horror!) serve it to you with the bag still floating in a milky brew?

All the cafes where I used to get good cups/mugs of tea have gone or changed owners. If you assure me that the tea they brew there is still good, I'll believe you. This is exactly what I wanted to learn about when opening this thread. Nothing wrong with tea bags as long as it's done well.

We have two tea houses here in Pasadena that brew a very good pot of tea and both serve a "tea"as well.
One is English-the Rose Cottage on California.
The other is Chado on Colorodo-which sells exquisite rare teas as well.

Well, it's not exactly on the main tourist track, but the Spice Island Tea House here in Pittsburgh has a great selection of properly-brewed teas. It's a total hole-in-the-wall place, but with decent Malaysian/Burmese food, too.

I'm always shocked by how many people I see ordering "Thai Ice Teas" there, frankly. When a restaurant has a full tea menu that they distribute to each table, perhaps one might want to order something more sophisticated...

Teaism in Washington, DC is quite good, albeit a bit pricy and overrated.

Tealuxe, a small chain in Boston, MA is essentially the same thing.

Dobro, in Burlington, VT, has a huge selection of teas from around the world and a great atmosphere.

The latter, I'm ashamed to say. They do provide dishes on the tables to take them out though! (Well, they had to do something with the ashtrays now smoking's banned...)

You may also be interested in:

http://www.tea.co.uk/guildmembers.php

I can confirm that Moggerhanger Park, near me, does an excellent cuppa, and rather good cakes, in bizarre surroundings (as you'd expect, from somewhere that sounds like a cat storage system).

Here in PA there aren't many places you can go to get a "cup a tea", but there is a small store near where I work that has a million varieties. Therefore my favorite place to enjoy a cup of tea is at home!

^ Great link

But today I discovered my perfect tea room.

http://www.postcardteas.com/introduction.htm
MAP Postcard Teas, 9 Dering Street

A huge range of packaged teas are available from around 3GBP and up.

However, you can buy a cup of any of them (most are 1.50GBP) which will be prepared perfectly and presented in an appropriate vessel. If you like it and decide to buy it, the cup of tea is free.

Don't expect fast service, but the staff is knowledgeable and very friendly. Both teas we picked were delightful, the descriptions of both were very accurate.
"Pouchong - A wonderful green oolong with a citrus-like tang. This very lightly oxidized tea comes from the mountains around Pin-Lin in the north of Taiwan."
(This was lovely and 'bright' with a zingy, citrus/metal aftertaste)
and
"Nokcha - A special Korean tea grown without using modern agrochemicals on an estate where wild flowers flourish between the rows of tea bushes. It has a unique sweet biscuit-like taste."
(Very different to the Pouchong, warming and relaxing and unmistakably 'biscuity'. Very different to any other green tea I've tried.)

We bought a pack of the Nokcha (6.50GBP) and were treated to the teas.

We left feeling energised and mildly elated. There are a lot of teas to try here, I'll be coming often.


NB - Be sure not to use tapwater and get the water temperature right when making the tea at home. Best part of having tasted the tea in the shop first was knowing that I got it very wrong on my first attempt. It was nice enough, but a little persistence helped me get the best out of it. Made the world of difference! (Evian is not so good for tea, BTW, Volvic is better). In fact the difference was so striking, I'm wondering if I'm really getting the best out of the other teas I have at home. So much I've still to learn! My cooking skills improve by eating at good restaurants, hopefully this place will help me up my tea-making skills.

http://www.teaguide.net/ is a guide to shops that either sell or serve good quality tea. You can submit a review to share those "great finds" made in the course of your travels as well enjoying the reviews written by others.

In China, many cities have teahouses where you pay a "package", i.e a savoury & sweet buffet is included, other dishes are brought to your private booth by staff and hot water is upped.

Many temples in Korea have a teahouse to cover some costs and offer the typical wide variety of Korean teas (including pine tea).

A guidebook can tell me that

Do you have any actual recommendations, mosburger?

(especially as you can get fleeced in China - often used as the basis of a common tourist rip off/scam
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=586966
&
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=543908)

I'm an Earl Grey man myself but occasionally I feel the urge for a mug of builder's tea.
In London the best place to avail yourself of these are the Cabman Shelters,of which there are 13 dotted around the capital.
I've never been asked if I'm a taxi driver so I presume it's okay for anyone to use them.
www.urban75.org/london/cabmans-shelters.html

Well, I generally don't use guidebooks and can't really remember any precise names or locations.

In China, these places are easy to differentiate as they will not allow you to buy a single cup of tea without the buffet. And the privacy of the booth allows for a perfect lazy afternoon chat or biz talk.

As for Korea, the main tea growing area is Southern Cholla Province, also famous for it's food, so maybe in the cities there (Yeosu, Mokpo, Gwangju etc.0

I've also had some great moments drinking tea at Betty's in York.

Last time I was in there, it was at about 7pm (no queue!) and I had some green tea, and a portion of the excellent brown bread ice cream. The waitress was very relieved I didn't ask for it with milk, as apparently there are quite a few people who insist, even with green tea, and they have to do everything to dissuade them...

They do serve a mean cup of tea, whatever kind you drink, however.

(They also did me a rather excellent wedding cake, but that's a whole other story...)

7pm on a Friday is an odd time to visit Betty's - there's something about drinking tea, listening to the pianist play covers of classic pop music, watching York go out on the town (something it does with much gusto) out the huge windows... Before joining them!