For Free - Paris - page 123

Pink champagne
MING TANG-EVANS / LONELY PLANET ©
Drinking
Drinking in Paris as Parisians do means anything from downing a coffee at a zinc counter
with locals, sipping tea in a chic salon de thé , meeting friends for un verre ('a glass') and a
cheese and/or charcuterie platter on a pavement terrace, debating existentialism over an
early evening apéro ( apéritif; pre-dinner drink) in literary cafes, swilling martinis while
listening to jazz or partying aboard floating clubs on the Seine…and much, much more.
COFFEE, TEA & HOT CHOCOLATE
Coffee has always been Parisians' drink of choice to kick-start the day. So it's surprising,
particularly given France's fixation on quality, that Parisian coffee has lagged behind world
standards, with burnt, poor-quality beans and unrefined preparation methods. But the city is
in the throes of a coffee revolution, with local roasteries such as Belleville Brûlerie and
Coutume priming cafes citywide for outstanding brews made by professional baristas, often
using cutting-edge extraction techniques. Caffeine fiends are now spoilt for choice and
while there's still plenty of substandard coffee in Paris, you don't have to go far to avoid it.
Surprisingly too, tea - more strongly associated with France's western neighbours, the
UK and Ireland - is extremely popular in Paris. Tearooms offer copious varieties; learn
about its history at the tea museum within the original Marais branch of Mariage Frères .
For decadently rich hot chocolate, the crème de la crème is venerable tearoom Angelina ,
with two branches at Versailles.