Breakfast tea recommendations?

What locally available (supermarket) tea can be a good substitute for typical tea you’d buy in the UK? Preferably loose leaf.

I’m not a tea drinker, but my wife is, and on the rare occasions when she asks me to buy loose leaf tea from a supermarket, I’m overwhelmed by what’s available - there’s usually a whole aisle of boxes of tea. OTOH, if you want really decent loose leaf tea, I’d recommend going to a deli or a specialist tea shop usually there’s one or two of the latter even in small French towns.

Also, if you want more specific advice maybe it would help to specify what you’re looking for - Assam, Ceylon etc.

Ah - I’m a coffee drinker too (no shortage of choice in that direction!) - the title is ‘breakfast tea’ so I’m just thinking PG Tips, Tetley, Yorkshire, etc. black tea, nothing fancy. It’s for my wife.

You can buy thé noir, Ceylan, by post from mesepices.com or maxicoffee.com.

Thanks, really need it quicker… There is a big Auchan hypermarket I can go to.

Quite frankly, any of them! There’s not a lot to choose. If she likes it strong, go for the Yorkshire.

We have hunted a lot for loose tea @vitesse and all our local supermarkets stopped stocking it, apart from Earl Grey and the herbal sorts. On-line is possible but very expensive in my experience so far (lovely tea from @vero’s recommended place in Paris but definitely not for every day for us).

All our local épiceries sell Ceylon tea loose and we have now adjusted our tastebuds to the flavour of Ceylon, since it’s most readily available. We used to make our own blend, adding Assam to get the authentic English Breakfast flavour but Assam is impossible to find around here so we gave up!

Most of the supermarkets sell e.g. PG Tips etc and some have their own acceptable breakfast blend (e.g. Super U) but only in teabags these days. If your wife can cope with tea bags, there shouldn’t be a problem finding one of the brands you mention in local supermarkets, although they are usually in the “British Products” shelves :smiley:

1 Like

Liptons Yellow Label … packets of loose tea readily available in French supermarkets.

But only if you like really, really weak tea! Not what I would think of as “breakfast” tea.

7 Likes

How far are you from EYMET (24500) I am sure the British shop there stock Yorkshire tea . Yorkshire tea bags are just as strong as leave tea and more available in France.

He’s got an Auchan hypermarket nearby - he’ll get it there. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Used to be available in our supermarkets but not any more! They seem to have had a cull on loose tea :roll_eyes:

Go to your nearest bio shop, they will have it.

1 Like

They do indeed - we’ve tried most of them - but they only have them in small very expensive packets, which is why we now get Ceylan from the (very much nearer) épicerie in large quantities (we drink a lot of tea!). Absolutely no-one local stocks Assam so I think it’s just the normal French taste for not-too-strongly-favoured consumables :smiley:

Auchan stock Yorkshire? That’s good to know. I’ve been either buying it online (with horrendous shipping costs) or charging friends and family in teabags when they want to stay with us.

1 Like

Well it’s worth a try - depends how “Brit” your area is.

I used to drink Twinings Breakfast tea (in a red pack) and enjoyed it (until I gave up milk and all black tea)

1 Like

Of course, if you’re looking for a caffeine rush first thing in the morning… Yorkshire teabags are ideal…
A friend would bring us some from the UK Cash&Carry…

but caffeine has to be kept to a minimum in this household… so… we settle for Yellow Label loose… and often enjoy it with or without milk during the day…

It’s like so many things, one’s tastes and habits can (and often do) change over the years…
we’ve got green tea (loose) given by neighbours and that’s delicious too… but OH doesn’t choose it over YLabel… :wink:

Our nearest Auchan is in Bordeaux. I’ve not been yet so not sure how much British stuff they stock, but I’ll definitely check it out when I’ve run out. Thanks for the suggestion Sue :+1:

1 Like

That’s true. Caffeine isn’t allowed as part of the fitness regime I’m currently doing so I had to go cold turkey. I used to drink 4 or 5 cups of Yorkshire tea each day. It was a tough 3 days at the beginning due to caffeine withdrawal but I feel better now… Will probably reintroduce it after the programme ends but not to the level I used to drink it.

1 Like

They have Yorkshire tea in Intermarché and Leclerc as well.

4 Likes