Story and Photos by Richard Nahem, Eye Prefer ParisI am not a tea person but I love teashops. One visit to the new teashop Dammann Freres will clue you in to why I love them.The Dammann Freres brand has been around since 1925 and it’s been sold in teashops, restaurants and gourmets stores around the world but surprisingly they have never had a freestanding shop till now.
A black interior and a wood beamed high ceiling plus being located on the place des Vosges already sets a tone of romanticism and exoticism before you even step inside. I was immediately drawn to the center of the shop where I found an ingenious way to sample the tea- over 100 individual small cupboards have doors you flip open, so you can sniff away freely without having to bother the salesman to keep bringing out the canisters.
The packaging is simple and elegant: a black square tin with subtle block letters and cinnabar colored trim around the edges gives it pure class.
A wall of rich colored Chinese traditional iron teapots along with more modern glass and architectural shaped ceramic ones really beckoned me to switch from being a coffee person to a tea- totaler. One of my favorite items, which I can’t wait to buy for a tea lover friend, is a white flower print ceramic mug with a built in strainer and ceramic cover to keep your tea hot while it steeps. If you are traveling and want to bring your tea with you, there’s an adorable orange pressed leather mini suitcase with four small tins inside.
One of the things that attracted me most were the reasonable prices for the top quality tea and exquisite packaging, with loose tea in their handsome tins starting at 7 euros and 24 tea bags at the same price. At Mariage Freres, the most famous teashop in Paris, prices start at 13 euros for the same thing. I bought a few tins as gifts and they were beautifully and painstakingly wrapped in yellow beige tissue, surrounded by clear plastic wrap and tied with an espresso colored thick satin ribbon.
Tea aficionados and even tea appreciators like myself will be in seventh heaven at Dammann Freres.
Dammann Freres
15 place des Vosges
Metro: St Paul or Bastille
Open 7 days 11AM to 7PM
Tel. 01 44 54 04 88
www.dammann.fr
Always enjoy visiting Mariage Freres when in Paris, but will have to try this next time. Also adore the Place de Vosges. What an excellent location!
This is my favorite tea! I order it from France (I live in the U.S.) and drink a cup a day. It’s delicious! When I visit Paris again I will definitely go to this Tea Shop.
We just spent 5 weeks in France, with one purpose being to visit all possible salons de thé. We always go to the Place des Vosges so imagine my delight at finding a Dammann shop there. No afternoon of tea drinking on site, but what an elegant place to investigate and buy tea. And pine over samovars and tea pots and travelling tea sets. Oh my! My new Dammann favorite is an Earl Grey fumé, but I’ve never found one I didn’t like. As we travelled south, every so often I would say, “Oh this is a really good tea.” And the waiter would tell me that it was a Dammann. Kudos to the new store.