Miffed that ‘it’s easier to find a decent pot of loose-leaf tea in Paris than in London’, Alex Holland aims to lure the coffee-crazy capital back to Britain’s traditional beverage. To that end, Brew, the Tea Pub is the Tooting prototype for a crowd-funded chain that updates the ‘greasy spoon’ – adding tea-based cocktails to the pot. In a setting that mimics a 1930s utilitarian tea room, order organic English breakfast, Earl Grey made with real bergamot, or Moroccan gunpowder mint supplied by Holland’s other business, Albion Tea Ltd, and served in brown china or metal pots. Cocktails include an Old Fashioned made with Buffalo Trace bourbon and lapsang souchong; Earl Grey G&T; and a marmalade and whisky English Breakfast Martini. Otherwise, drink Wandsworth-brewed Wolfie Smith Amber IPA and Grüner Veltliner or Côtes du Rhône red to accompany cheeseboards, snacks and small plates such as black-pudding Scotch egg with cheesy mash.