There are times when only a cup of tea will do – and when it’s got to be tea, it’s got to be good. This is the central principle of the Berlin-based specialist tea company P&T, who offer only the very best brews (read: small batches of handpicked, whole leaf tea) to buy and try in their two Berlin stores.

Paper & Tea is their newest boutique, opening in Berlin’s Mitte district in 2014. Designed and operated along similar lines to the original P&T concept store in Charlottenburg, its bright and minimalist layout houses a huge range of specialist teas to smell, sample and, ultimately, fail to resist. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and the store itself is a pleasure to meander around – you can almost feel your zen levels spike when you’re there. P&T also offer regular seminars exploring the rituals, ceremonies and history of tea, and, naturally, offers a good excuse to sample a cup or two. After all, life is too short to drink bad tea.