Whittard Covent Garden Tea Boutique: Loose Leaf From £12.95

Whittard of Chelsea at 9 The Marketplace, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RB, opens at 10 AM every day and stays open until 8.30pm from Monday to Thursday and 8pm from Friday to Sunday. It is the late-closing tea boutique of the piazza, and it sells a loose leaf Covent Garden Blend for £12.95. The company began in 1886 with a 25 year old tea trader on Fleet Street, so this is a good place to buy something with a London pedigree.

The store's address on the Whittard site is 9 The Marketplace, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RB. The Marketplace is the name of the covered market hall at the heart of the piazza, so the shop is inside the pedestrian zone and not on a through road. Covent Garden station is the usual way in, and the walk from Leicester Square is short.

The shop is one of a long list of Whittard branches across the country, but few of them share a setting like this. On a busy weekend the piazza fills with street performers outside, so it helps to treat the shop as a calm room off a crowded square.

Whittard publishes two sets of hours for the Covent Garden shop. From Monday to Thursday it opens at 10:00 and closes at 20:30. From Friday to Sunday it opens at 10:00 and closes at 20:00. There is no short day, so a Sunday visit gets the same ten hours as a Friday.

That late close is the real advantage over many other tea shops in the area. A Thursday after work, or a theatre evening with half an hour to spare, still leaves time to buy a tin of leaf and be on your way. The first hour after opening is the calmest period for talking to staff.

The company history on the Whittard site starts with Walter Whittard, who at 17 quit the family leather business out of frustration and took a job with a tea trader in the City. Eight years later, aged 25, he opened his own shop on Fleet Street, with a simple philosophy: to buy the best. Whittard describes 2026 as its 140th year.

After Walter died in 1935 the business passed to his sons, Dick and Hugh, who kept his philosophy. The company later moved its shop, headquarters, warehouse and coffee roastery to a large building on the Fulham Road in Chelsea, which is where the name Whittard of Chelsea comes from. That name still sits over a shop in the middle of Covent Garden.

The shop's namesake product is the Covent Garden Blend loose leaf tea, listed at £12.95 and described by Whittard as sweet, fruity and floral. It is a bestseller on the website, and it is the obvious souvenir to carry out of this particular branch. Next to it you will find the Piccadilly Blend at £12.95, described as floral, fruity and light.

If you prefer something delicate, English Rose loose leaf is described as delicate, floral and rose, starting from £12.95. Passionfruit and Mango, described as citrus, earthy and juicy, is also £12.95. The pattern is useful for planning: loose leaf blends cluster at the same price point, so you can choose on flavour rather than budget.

Not everyone wants a tin of leaf. Whittard's Earl Grey teabags are £7.95 and are described as citrus, floral and aromatic. English Breakfast teabags are also £7.95 and are described as smooth, malty and light. These are the sensible picks for an office drawer or a thank you gift.

The wider shop also sells coffee, hot chocolate, biscuits and chocolate, along with tea equipment such as infusers, teapots and cups. If you are buying for several people, walk the shelves once before you decide, and set your budget by the £7.95 and £12.95 anchors above.

The shop works best for gifts. The Whittard range includes tea gifts, selection boxes and Christmas products, and the shop sits where people are already shopping. A tin of Covent Garden Blend or a box of Earl Grey is a gift that says where you bought it.

The honest judgement is that this is a retail shop rather than a tasting room. Treat it as a shop visit and not a long sit-down, so go for the shelves. If a pot of tea at a table is what you want, take the short walk to the Strand and use the tea bar at Twinings instead.

With the shop open until 8.30pm on weeknights, it pairs well with an early evening in the piazza. Watch the street performers under the market hall, walk the cobbled arcades and then go in for your tea shopping once the main crowd has thinned. Weekday evenings are noticeably less hectic than Saturday afternoons.

For a longer route, walk toward Seven Dials or south to the Strand and the river. When you want a recommendation for a quiet cafe or a theatre dinner near the market, ask the Karpo APP and it will fit them around the shop's closing time.

Whittard publishes a Tea School on its website, with guides to the types of tea, how to brew loose leaf tea, caffeine in tea and matcha. Read the loose leaf brewing guide before you buy, because it tells you what to ask the staff in the shop and how much leaf a tin will realistically give you across a week.

The company also runs a rewards scheme that you can join on its site, and it sells tea infusers, teapots and tea sets for people starting from scratch. A first-time loose leaf buyer can leave with the Covent Garden Blend, an infuser and a mug without spending more than a modest amount. The tin lasts, and the first pot tastes like the piazza you bought it in.

Address: Whittard of Chelsea, 9 The Marketplace, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RB. Hours: Monday to Thursday 10:00 to 20:30, Friday to Sunday 10:00 to 20:00. Prices quoted are from the Whittard website.

Go on a weekday morning for the calmest shop and a Thursday evening for the latest close. Skip the shop if you want a seated tea service, since this branch is for buying. If the market hall is crowded, wait ten minutes and walk the arcades first.