When you think of Paris, tea isn’t something that naturally comes to mind. London, yes – Paris, no. However, think again!

A few weeks ago at a Salon de The, a friend and I had a lovely tea called Carcadet Provence. The tea is made by a company called Dammann Frères which was started in 1692!

My friend gifted me with a box of sachets to take home.

I had never heard of a “Carcadet”, so I looked up the definition. Here it is:

“The “Carcadet” is equally called “bissap” in West-Africa. It is a drink made from hibiscus flowers and is often mixed with fruit peels, diced fruits, or other flowers (depending on the region). Can be served hot or cold; it makes an excellent refreshing cocktail when prepared chilled and mixed with fruit juice.

Daman Freres website

Yesterday, we went for a walk roughly from St. Germain over to the Marais. Rather than walking along the Seine as we usually do we took a back street and happened on one of Dammann Frères Paris shops on 24, Avenue Victoria in the 1st arrondissement.

The store is gorgeous. Dammann Frères has over 500 teas and they are all there in the shop! During the day from 12 to 5, they also have a tasting of one of their teas.

It turns out that they have 14! different Carcadets. They also have teas (black, green, white) from China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Africa, Iran, Taiwan, New Zealand, India and Japan. As far as infusions or herbal teas in addition to the Carcadets they have 17 kinds of Rooibos and over 30 Tisanes.

We bought a couple of teas to try. You can purchase tea in tins (in 100g size), sachets, or loose leaf in any quantity with a minimum of 20 grams. The best way to buy is loose leaf because not all the teas are available in sachets. You can make about 10 cups of tea with 20 grams. Most teas cost between 5 and 10 euros per 100 grams so buying the loose leaf tea is a very very small splurge for a really great tea!

Because we wanted to do a test test at home, we bought 20 grams of a few different teas. We also bought a loose leaf tea infuser partly for its functional value but also as a souvenir. In the photo, you can see attached to the infuser an example of their tin for their first tea!

If you are visiting the Marais this shop is close by and worth a stop. You can pick up some interesting teas and a nice non-traditional gift or souvenir.