London's Finest Tea Store

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"Very, very special tea" Nigel Slater, Food writer and broadcaster

"Yesterday I drank the most delicious cup of tea I've ever tasted. Given that I've experimented over the years with many varieties to appease an eight-cup-a-day habit you can understand that this was a particularly magical moment for me. The tea in question was Master Xu's Rou Gui, a light Wuyi rock oolong with a delicate, floral fragrance, and I sipped it at Timothy d'Offay's charming shop, Postcard Teas, where hundreds of teas can be tried before buying". Nicole Swengley The FT's How to Spend It

"The best tea in London" Lucille Lewin The Telegraph

"Why don't you make time for tea. Become a green tea enthusiast at Postcard Teas,where many varieties can be traced to small, family-owned tea gardens". Bianca Jagger Harper's Bazaar

"Postcard Teas boasts an amazing list of teas, some of which you may never have heard of and some you know well. The website tells you more about tea than you ever knew and best of all sends you on an exploratory tour of its tea estates". Lucia van der Post The Times

"There are many tea aficionados out there, but Tim d'Offay's passion for the perfect brew - responsibly sourced and lovingly blended - sets him apart. An innovator in his field, he sells green, black, and oolongs". Wallpaper*

"Timothy d'Offay is one of the foremost tea experts in the world". Rose Prince The Good Food Producers Guide 2010

teaPot

Welcome to Postcard Teas

WE WILL BE CLOSED SATURDAY MAY 25TH & BANK HOLIDAY MAY 27TH. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

At the end of September 2012, Victoria Wood and Lu were in the Wuyi Mountains filming Master Xu making his Rock Teas. The documentary which was first shown on BBC1 last night is called "Nice Cup of Tea".

Click HERE to see the programme.

In 2008 the tea world changed forever and for the better when Postcard Teas pioneered proper tea provenance by putting the maker or estate’s name and place of production on every tin of tea it sold. Imagine a fine wine world where companies sold bottles of wine labelled only with the wine’s country or region of origin but not the estate or maker's name! 99% of tea is still sold like this and we are dismayed that while the speciality tea market has grown, the provenance particularly of Japanese, Taiwanese, and Chinese teas has not improved. 

4 years on & we are still the only tea company in the world to offer proper provenance

 

The knowledge which comes from proper provenance is the first step towards connoisseurship in any subject. In tea, provenance also helps protect Asia's oldest tea cultures because with the right information people can choose between a truly traditionally made tea and a factory made speciality tea. If any tea described as rare, luxury, handmade or premium does not come with a maker's name, place, and information about the production or the age of the trees in photographic form, it is almost certainly a fancy factory farm tea. Remember the world's most sought after teas like genuine Wuyi and Phoenix Oolongs, and Xihu Long Jing and Uji Gyokuro are all handmade in quantities as low as 1-2 kg a day which is why your chances of buying the real thing are very very low! If you wish to avoid the mass produced speciality teas, please buy your tea carefully and ask your tea retailer detailed questions as your choice can help preserve Asia's oldest tea cultures and tea trees.