House of Perch － a Danish Fairytale
By Kirsten Kristensen, Tea Coach
When traveling to Denmark you enter a country well-known for its fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen and with a thousand-year old history of the Royal family. It is also a country of new and old traditions in a beautiful combination. This is the same atmosphere you get when you walk the streets of central Copenhagen － a capital of modern fashion, exciting city life, but also tradition and hidden treasures. A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop is one of the most cherished tea adventures of the city.
Located on Kronprinsensgade (Crown Prince Street) next to the world-famous and busy Pedestrian Street (Stroeget) in the middle of the trendy fashion district and a few minutes from the government building and the Royal Palace, this little store holds a secret known mostly by its devoted tea drinkers, although the customer base is growing day by day.
Built in 1835, A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop is the oldest tea store of its kind in the country － and in Europe － and one of the oldest in the world. Very little has been changed since it opened its doors on April 16th, 1835. The company has been on private hands through seven generations, the last four by the Hincheldey family. Apart from installing electricity, the interior has been kept nearly the way it looked 172 years ago and you feel that you stepped into a part of living history. You know that you are in the 21st century, though, when you notice the credit card machine discretely placed next to the old brass cash register. You can buy a few tea accessories in the store, but there is no doubt: high quality loose tea is and has always been the most important article in the store.
A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop sells tea only of the finest kind of the world, and quality and service have been the company’s core values since day one. Tea is weighed on the original brass scales, and to ensure quality and freshness, the tea is blended only when purchased by customer in the store. However, you will have to wait in line, sometimes for hours, since you are not the only one who treasures high quality tea. A Danish proverb says, “He who waits for something good can never wait long enough.” This is certainly true in A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop, but while you wait, you inhale a delicious aroma and pick up good advice about tea brewing and handling, with which the staff － dressed in their green aprons - takes pride in educating their customers. And customer service is plentiful. After completing your purchase you are offered a traditional hard candy from the old tin. What sets the company apart is the use of the formalized “You” in their greetings and conversations, which is not used much anymore in liberalized Denmark, but it is the utmost courtesy, especially to the older generation.
The selection of tea reflects the country’s characteristics. Among the more than 130 tea selections several are dedicated to the royal family, such as Queens Blend, Crown Princess Blend, and Prince of Denmark － in honor of the newborn crown prince, a blend of Green Earl Grey with Jasmine － as well as Royal Blend and Crown Blend. In honor of Hans Christian Andersen, A.C. Perch also carries a Fairytale Blend (a blend of black Chinese tea with a fresh taste of Citrus and Quince). In 2002, on April16th, marking the stores 167th birthday and the Queen’s 62nd, A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop was honored to be titled “purveyor to H.M. The Queen of Denmark,” which is why all bags and boxes now display the crown as part of the company logo. Yes, the Royals do drink tea. Especially HRH Prince Henrik who is an avid green tea drinker, and HRH Crown Princess Mary who likes a Taiwanese Jade, the Fromosa Fragrant, or white Japanese teas.
Online Store
Even though A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop sticks to traditions they were among the first to recognize the importance of helping customers get their tea delivered. Already in the 1950s the company serviced their customers via phone or mail orders from a tiny storage room in the back of the old building. Early they adapted this service to online orders and today expedite about 100 packages a day to customers all over the world. A.C. Perch is probably the only web shop in the world where you can customize your very own blend down to one gram! The company keeps a customer book where they have kept old customer recipes through generations, so you can get the exact same tea your grandmother used to buy. Black tea is the most sold article, however green is on the increase, and lately also white teas such as Pai Mu Tan are becoming popular among younger and health concerned customers.
A piece of History sold to Japan
The first Hincheldey to own A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop was Ludvig Ferdinand Hincheldey who became the leader of the shop in 1927 and worked there until 1974. Until he died, at 94 years old, he would always come to the store to have a cup of Darjeeling - he never drank anything else. In spring 2006 the Japanese actress and entrepreneur Millie Okada, who came to Denmark in connection with a TV program about her Danish heritage, had fallen in love with the concept of A.C. Perch and the history of “Uncle Louis.” A franchise concept was made and on November 4th, 2006 she opened the first A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop in Japan － in the middle of busy Tokyo near Yoyogi Uehara Station. Who said you cannot sell sand in Sahara? Today the store sells a considerable selection of A.C. Perch’s tea blends － with fine Japanese teas exported to Denmark to be re-exported and sold at double the price in the fancy store and tea room in Tokyo － with some of the same atmosphere, but a lot more space than in the traditional store in Denmark. One of the tea selections in Tokyo is A.C. Perch’s “Hygge Tea” － a classic blend of Ceylon and Darjeeling. The Danish concept of “hygge” is hard to translate neither to English nor to Japanese. It symbolizes what the Danes are so good at: creating a cozy atmosphere in a quiet corner, just being there and enjoying life with a good friend － and a good cup of tea. The “Ladies International Network － Copenhagen” has tried to describe the concept: http://www.linkdenmark.com/info/hygge.htm.
Perch’s Tea Room
On November 7th A.C. Perch took a big step to accommodate their customers and to follow a trend that is part of the new Metropolitan lifestyle: A tea room, on 2nd floor － right on top of the old tea shop. For Stine Hincheldey Alwe´n, fourth generation of the Hincheldey’s, this is not only a dream come true for her, but also a dream her grandmother had while helping out in the store in the 1960-1980s. Stine Hincheldey, dressed in the traditional green uniform, is now in charge of the beautifully decorated tea salon. This is not a fast food place, but a place of tranquility, lightly drawn away from the rush of the city, where it is okay to take time for tea and enjoy every minute. The tea room is used by business people who wants to sit in a quiet place to discuss or interview a new candidate for a job, or by ladies who are tired of the crowded self-serve cafe´s and want to be serviced and spoiled. Only the best ingredients are used and top quality tea is properly brewed and served in silver tea pots and in white tea cups especially made for A.C. Perch that enhances the color of the tea. (They are sold for $28 a pair.) The tea room serves tea by the pot or a traditional English style Afternoon tea with scones and sandwiches ($20 per person).
Tea Bags
Even though the company is proud of traditions, they still follow new trends. Recently they have introduced tea in bags! However, this is quality loose tea in silky food-grade nylon mesh pyramid bags with no glue or staples and without any smell or taste of filter paper. Each bag is packed separately in a foil pouch to ensure freshness, quality and flavor. “Tea has to be broad leaved so that the bouquet is preserved,” says Christian Hincheldey, fourth generation of the Hincheldey family and responsible for marketing of the exclusive tea products. By request of restaurants in the Copenhagen airport, A.C. Perch succeeded in inventing a tea series in pyramid bags that lives up to the premises to resemble a traditionally brewed quality tea. “It is a shame that as a tea drinker you have to finish a gourmet meal at a good restaurant with a traditional teabag tea. Especially if you consider the inventions within the coffee brewing,” says Christian Hincheldey. Eight of its kind is available in bags so far, but more are to follow. Top quality tea bags have been introduced to canteens and prime hotels such as the Radisson and Hilton hotels all over Denmark. “We are happy to learn that there is a greater sense of quality in the population. We have never been ready to compromise in regard to quality. We can also feel that tea is much more trendy,” says Christian Hincheldey.
A.C. Perch’s Tea Shop
Kronprinsensgade 5 1114 Copenhagen, Denmark / Phone +45 3315 3562
Hours of operation: Monday-Thursday 9 am－5:30 pm, Friday 9 am－7 pm, Saturday 9:30 am－2:30, Sunday closed.
Perch’s Tea Room
To reserve a table in the Tea Room call: +45 2466 5530
Open Monday-Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. Sunday closed.