Gifts for Tea Lovers

The best gift for a tea lover is not more tea in general. It is one excellent tin, and the few things that turn the cup into an occasion: a honey that sweetens without taking over, something small and buttery on the saucer, a ritual worth keeping. Here is how we would put one together, from a single tin to a whole French breakfast.

Start with one excellent tin

Nina’s Paris traces its history to a distiller of rose and lavender essences who supplied the court of Louis XVI, and its blends still take their names from Versailles. We carry three, each in the house’s collectible tin.

• Marie Antoinette: Ceylon black tea scented with roses and with apples from the Potager du Roi, the King’s Kitchen Garden at Versailles. Delicate rather than sweet, for the friend who takes tea seriously.
• Je T’aime: Ceylon black tea with vanilla and caramel, the gentlest of the three and good with a splash of milk. For the friend who likes a cup after dinner.
• Fête de Versailles: black tea with honey and spice, orange peel, and safflower and cornflower petals for color. The celebratory one, and the obvious tin for December.

Add the honey

Tea drinkers are particular about honey, and the right one is mild. Famille Perronneau acacia honey dissolves easily and leaves the tea tasting of tea; our guide to acacia honey explains why it stays liquid for so long. French lavender honey is fuller and more floral, better on the toast than in the cup. For a grand gesture, THETA rare rose honey, a Greek wildflower honey with a delicate rose fragrance, arrives in its own gift box.

Something for the saucer

A tea gift feels complete with one thing to eat beside it. Biscuiterie de Provence’s almond, fig and raisin gâteau moelleux is a soft, naturally gluten-free almond cake from the Drôme Provençale, made to slice at room temperature. L’Abeille Occitane lavender honey candies, crisp shells with a liquid lavender-honey center, belong in a small dish beside the pot. And if they bake, send them to our Marie Antoinette tea madeleines.

The whole morning, in one box

The French Morning Breakfast puts a Nina’s Paris tea beside apple, pear and walnut jam, French lavender honey and chestnut cream, in a natural wooden box with a Lello recipe card of four simple ways to use them, a French tea ritual among them. It is the gift for the tea lover you would like to see more of on Sunday mornings.

How to choose for them

• Takes milk: Je T’aime.
• Drinks it black and notices everything: Marie Antoinette.
• Loves a spiced, festive cup: Fête de Versailles.
• Sweetens: add the acacia honey.
• Has everything: THETA rose honey, or the French Morning Breakfast.

Brewing, so the gift tastes as it should

Nina’s black teas brew at a teaspoon per cup with water just off the boil, for three to four minutes; then take the leaves out. Fête de Versailles also makes a fragrant iced tea, poured over ice with a slice of orange, and our Marie Antoinette iced tea does the same for the rose blend.

Questions

What is a good gift for someone who loves tea? One exceptional tin they would not buy for themselves, with a mild honey and something small to eat alongside.

Is tea a good host gift? Yes. It keeps for months, asks for no room on the table, and is enjoyed after the guests have gone.

How long does loose-leaf tea keep? Sealed in its tin, away from heat, light and strong smells, a scented black tea is at its best for about a year.

See every tea and tin in French tea and gift tins, find more by budget in gifts by price, or browse our Christmas food gifts.