I was walking past the Palais des Thés on Wicklow Street in Dublin. I was rather surprised to see it there; hadn’t realised it had opened but was quite happy to discover it had. Despite being a nation of teadrinkers, Ireland is a lousy place to buy tea from. I have historically spent a lot of money in Le Palais in Lyon, and also in La Compagnie Anglaise des Thés in Paris.

So, on Feb 14 last year, they were supplying Thé des Amants for tasters and to get the punters in. I hadn’t tried it before – I tended to get other slightly sweeter teas, plus an annual dose of Number 25, the Christmas tea. I liked this a lot, so I bought some. A few weeks later, I bought some more and now, it’s unusual that you’ll walk in my house and not find some available. It, and Number 25 are my two favourite teas at the moment.

The shop is wonderful. It’s a haven from the rest of the busy cluttered and mainly boring shops around the place. Even when it’s busy. And the guy who runs it is wonderful, lovely and friendly.

Sometimes I wonder if we’ve forgotten what it is like to be nice to people. Not just people selling stuff in shops, but people in general.

Anyway, I was back in there again during the week and once more enjoyed some superb customer service. I know that one of my friends was looking for something in there lately and found them very helpful too.

So, one year after having discovered they are here, want to say again that Palais des Thés is one of my favourite shops in the city.