Aarti Mehta-Kroll profiles one of Berlin’s classiest tea houses…

I grew up in India drinking chai: milk, water, black tea leaves, sugar and masala heated till the mixture turned the right shade of brown.

Every afternoon, my mum would lay this out along with salty snacks. When we were home, my dad and I would also engage in this tea ceremony, stopping whatever we were doing, taking a few moments to relax and chat over this hot beverage.

When I left home, I left this ritual behind. My afternoon tea time evolved into hastily preparing a cup of instant coffee or dunking a tea bag into hot water that I then carried back to my desk to continue whatever I was working on.

Yet after spending two hours in the world of tea at P & T (Paper & Tea) with the store’s Chief Tea Expert, Thomas Langnickel-Stiegler, I have decided to redefine my approach to this age old drink.

Founded by Canadian Jens de Gruyter, the store—set on Charlottenburg‘s handsome Bleibtreustrasse—helps customers discover the diversity of the world of tea. Prior to establishing the store, Jens spent time traveling around Asia and Africa. Through the personal relationships he built in the course of his travels, he is now able to offer rare teas that are produced for local markets and therefore difficult to acquire abroad.

The prices start from 15 euros for 75 grams and are in part determined by how easy it is to export a given tea, as well as how it is produced. White tea, for example, is relatively inexpensive because it is grown in the wild. Korean teas are amongst the more expensive ones as they are mainly produced for local markets and are difficult to import.