Tea Blog

Copenhagen is a wonderful, wonderful town (or so Danny Kaye tells us in the song from the 1952 film Hans Christian Andersen). But song lyrics aside, it really does have some wonderful things to see and explore — tea, rather unexpectedly, being one of them. Although the Danes are really coffee drinkers, I managed to find a spot or two to enjoy some tea and was not at all disappointed.

Although there are many nice cafes around town, if you want to be treated to a tea-for-tea-lovers experience, then A.C. Perch’s Tearoom is certainly a good place to start. The tea room adjoins A.C. Perch’s Tea Merchants, a specialty tea shop that exclusively sells tea — quite a number of teas, too! The interior of the shop is almost entirely original from shop’s nineteenth-century days. The loose tea is stored in canisters that gleam out of a low-lit interior, lining the walls from floor to ceiling. The enticing aromas from all of the delicious looking teas was enough to tempt me into the adjacent tearoom, where they serve tea and a variety of sweet and savoury goodies to accompany a nice cuppa (admittedly, it did not take much to persuade me, especially on a chilly April day). Since I stopped in during the morning, I was able to get a table easily, but I have since heard that if you want to stop by in the afternoon, reservations are advised — it seems to be regarded as the place to go!

Much of what A.C. Perch’s Tearoom serves falls into the category of the English-style High Tea experience—the menu features tea served with scones (with cream and jam, of course) and/or finger sandwiches, as well as a variety of other cakes, if they are more to your liking. However, this is the content of the menu combinations, and they also serve over 150 varieties of loose tea (this is the number they claim to serve— I did not count them!), presumably the same teas that I had just come across in the adjoining shop.

I was definitely spoiled for choice— a good problem, perhaps, but a problem nonetheless. I am currently on a bit of a green tea kick, and ended up choosing between a classic Chun Mee green tea, and a more unusual Green Darjeeling. Although I was tempted to try out the Green Darjeeling, due to its less common appearance on tea menus, in the end I followed my instincts and opted for the Chun Mee. This is typically a stronger green tea, which I felt I needed after several hours of walking around in chilly, damp weather. As is typical of Chun Mee, the tea had a slightly pungent taste, and re-steeped excellently.

All in all, stopping into A.C. Perch’s Tearoom was a wonderful experience, as the excellent range of teas was matched by a clear appreciation for tea and only tea (as they state quite emphatically, A.C. Perch’s does NOT serve coffee!), and the servers were clearly knowledgeable about their teas, and tea culture in general. The tearoom itself is also a beautiful spot, making an already lovely tea experience even more so. If you happen to be in Copenhagen, I would certainly recommend stopping in.

See more of Elise Nuding’s articles here.

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