Twinings Museum
What Visitors Say
Serena as a brand ambassador was amazing friendly, knowledgable and created a truly awesome tea tasting masterclass. Well recommend it. Have already tried some of the tips to brew a perfect tasting cup of tea. The shop was also filled with a wide selection of teas.
We went there with my wife to look at the tea selection. Unfortunately, the service was so poor that they didn’t even greet us when we arrived. When we wanted to buy a teacup, they told us there was no protective packaging for it and that we had to buy another set that included protection. I explained that we were from Belgium and couldn’t travel with such a fragile item without proper packaging. The response we got was basically, “If you’re not happy, you don’t have to buy it,” which made us feel unwelcome. To be honest, the tea selection is enormous, and there is also a great variety of gifts you can buy for friends and family. For that reason, I would still recommend the place in terms of products, but the person who assisted us did not seem professional or welcoming at all.
A great shop with knowledgeable staff, tea tasting and lots of teas to purchase. When we were there it was very busy and because it’s a long narrow shop, it was hard to navigate without bumping into people. Unsure if that’s an every day experience of if it was just the date and time we visited. All the staff I dealt with were incredibly kind and helpful. I would love to return at a quieter time to I could relax and enjoy some of the samples available.
This place is an absolute dream for tea lovers! Walking in, you’re surrounded by a huge variety of teas, and there’s even a section where you can sample some. My friend and I went a little crazy shopping—we picked up all kinds of teas, hot chocolate, a tea box with one of each flavor, and even some shortbread. Such a fun experience and definitely worth a visit if you enjoy tea.
It was beautiful!!! Very elegant and so many options!! The selections seemed endless and free samples of premium flavors. Plus you can buy single cups of any flavor in the shop.
Highlights
The Shopfront
An 18th-century icon still in useTwin Chinese figures and a golden lion top the lintel—commercial theatre that’s greeted customers for three centuries.
216 Strand, pediment and doorway
Mini-Museum Cases
Tea’s rise told in objectsCaddies with secret locks, early adverts and royal warrants sketch how tea moved from luxury to everyday habit.
Back of the shop
Tasting Bar
Palate > packagingStaff will tune water temperature and brew time so you can taste the difference between, say, Darjeeling and Assam—or Earl Grey and its modern cousins.
Rear counter
Royal Warrants Wall
Tea by appointmentFrom Queen Victoria in 1837 onwards, the warrants chart a continuous relationship with the Crown.
Along the side displays
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
Thomas Twining opened on this very spot in 1706—making it one of London’s longest-trading shops under the same brand and address.
Twinings once ran a bank: ‘Twinings Bank’ (founded 1825) later merged into Lloyds—proof that tea financed more than teatime.
The craze for locking tea caddies was practical: in the 18th century tea was so expensive that households kept it under literal lock and key.
The ‘Earl Grey’ story is murky, but Twinings created ‘Lady Grey’ in the 1990s as a lighter, citrus-forward blend for modern palates—and it stuck worldwide.
