Holiday Gift Guide: For the Tea Drinker

In Remodelista’s San Francisco office, tea drinkers are in the minority (see Holiday Gift Guide: For the Caffeinated). Here’s a gift guide from the London headquarters, where tea drinkers happily reign supreme.

N.B.: To make sure we’ve got everyone on your list covered, see all of our gift guides to date in our House Gifts section.

Above: When surrounded by my coffee drinking colleagues, it’s just sometimes easier to use a tea bag. The Tie Tea Mug means I can do it with style; $20.

Above: I meet four times a year with a group of four friends (to celebrate our birthdays) where a pot of brewed tea is de rigeur. The one who has been to Paris most recently shares her closely guarded stash of tea from French tea emporium Mariage Fréres. My favorite is Nocturne Oriental, a green tea mixed with citrus fruits and sweet spices–one sip is all you need to be transported to an exotic faraway land; €13, shipping from France to the United States is available via UPS. N.B.: UK tea drinkers will be pleased to know that Mariage Fréres has recently opened a concession at Selfridges on Oxford Street.

Above: My sons don’t know it yet, but these Kaikado of Kyoto tea cannisters are part of their inheritance: Every year, my treat to myself is a tea cannister from the oldest maker of handmade tea caddies in the world. I am particularly drawn to the fact that with daily use the metal (tin, brass, copper, or silver) develops a unique patina. Available in the US through Tortoise and in the UK through Postcard Teas. Prices vary according to size and material.

Above: The ritual of afternoon tea is best if the service comes out on a tray. These Finn Juhl Turning Trays come in three sizes to accommodate all your tea serving needs; in the US they are available through Scandinavian Design House, $215 to $245; in the UK, you can source them from Skandium, £115 to £145.

Above: Tea aficionados know that tea is not just for drinking. Culinary Tea explores the possibilities of using tea in food preparation; both sweet and savory; $16.50 through Amazon; £12.59 through Amazon UK.