Postcard Teas

If you have a tea-​lover friend and want to surprise them on some occasion, you’d really like to consider this shop. That was my personal case and I chose the Sparrow’s tongue — nicely packed and beautifully presented Korean green tea. I loved the staff in the shop who were considerate and knew a thing or two about the teas they sell. They also sell tea cups and pots for an even authentic experience.

My favourite tea shop in London, not cheap but the teas are high quality and well chosen.

Having visited tea shops around the world including NYC, Paris, Japan and China I can confidently say that this one stocks the best and most unique.
I was distraught when I fist arrived in London and nearly all the tea I could get was mediocre at best.
Finding Postcard Teas changed that. Their selection is small but expertly picked. Each tea essentially represents the best of that style on a truly global level. On top of this they are very accommodating and happy to make you a few teas to try before buying something. The staff are truly some of the friendliest around.
I’d tell you my favorite, but then you’d buy them all and I’d be pretty upset.
P. S. the ceramic cups they sell are really nice. Although expensive they are worth it and tend to go up in value over time if preserved.

Postcard teas offers a unique tea experience, something that I can appreciate.
I would not call it a tea house, but a tea shop. While you can drink tea on the premise, the primary focus is to sell tea. You taste different teas (and I do mean taste, about one tea cup) and either pay for the tasting or for the tea. Great concept… just a little pricey.
The teas offered are very unique. I came to the tea shop because I’d heard of their Amba Ceylon (also sold at F&Ms) and was a little disappointed that they had sold out.
While a little pomp about some of their teas, the diverse selection certainly catered to my needs and for that I shall commend them.

I really don’t know what I’d do without tea. I mean seriously, it’s appropriate in almost every conceivable situation, it calms you when you’re stressed, it wakes you when you’re tired and it tastes like liquid silver would taste if it wasn’t all hot and metally…
Postcard Tea does it very well.
The idea behind the name is that you buy a postcard from them (which has a small attached bag on the back) and use the postbox inside the shop to send your loved ones a blend of their favourite brew. There’s something really magical about seeing a red postbox in the middle of a tea shop.
The blends are refined. I got some tea grown in the frost in India, and it tastes like a winter’s morning. They have tea cups designed to have the optimal shape for enhancing the taste of tea. Tea pots made by masters in China, hand-​thrown from clay, and tin and copper tea caddies made by a 6^th generation craftsman.
The products aren’t cheap, but they don’t have to be. If you like tea — and if you’re planning a visit then it’s safe to assume you do — then you’ll want it all anyway.

Postcards teas is a wonderful place. They source the finest teas, working directly with small producers in Asia. A warm welcome was offered and expert advice was offered to help me choose my tea. The lovely calm space has tea simply displayed, each with a unique postcard and name and location of the maker. There are special ‘postcard’ tea packs that you can write a message on and send tea to anyone in the world. The passion for what they do is evident in the elegant design, and I love the ethos of crediting the tea producers, so you can check their website and see pictures of who made you cuppa. Recommended.

I had one afternoon in London. I am a foodie whose current passion is tea. I went to Borough Market and Postcard Teas at the end of May this year, and couldn’t have been more pleased with my choices.
The products at Postcard Teas are amazing. They will redefine your understanding of what tea can be. When you walk in do not be dismayed if it seems like they don’t have hundreds and hundreds of varieties of tea. In their carefully curated selection there will be at least one tea that you will love. In fact, if you can narrow it down to one I will be very impressed.
The shop is small and provides personal attention. They will make suggestions based on your tea preferences and give you fresh perfectly brewed cups of a few teas, to help you pick out something you like.
This store is suitable for all tea lovers ranging from someone who hikes in the mountains of Darjeeling and is on first-​name basis with tea estate owners there, to someone who will at least be interested that £26 will get you 6g of tea from a plant grown — by one of China’s best tea masters — from a cutting off of one of China’s six most prized ancient tea trees, which are no longer harvested.
Glorious high-​end Yixing pottery on display, and for purchase. The teapot lids are so skillfully fitted to their pots that you cannot see the seam between them.

«You know, the thing about England is that you have some of the best tea in the world, but you guys have fuck all idea how to make it.» — my German friend. Whilst not totally relevant to the review, it made me laugh.
I’m a total sucker for good quality tea, and tea porn makes me just a little bit too excited; yet whilst other countries have small boutiques such as Mariage Freres (France) or Hojo (SE Asia), until Postcard, I really hadn’t found an equivalent place. We have places such as The Tea House, but nothing really which does a smallish range of very well-​selected teas and where you can have a cheeky tasting cupper whilst you’re at it.
After finding out about Postcard at the excellent restaurant Dinings, I had to pay a visit. The range of teas has been carefully sourced, and I finally managed to track down the elusive sobacha here (Japanese tea made from buckwheat nibs). The tea caddies have some really nice designs on them, plus you can send tea postcards (…what it says on the tin… a postcard full of tea) to anyone anywhere, which is a great service.
We were offered to try some of the tea before buying, an offer which I gladly took up. What was a bit sneaky was that the staff didn’t tell me that each tasting the sobacha was £2.50 (the price varies depending on the tea) which, whilst not extortionate viz-​a-​viz a cup of coffee, I did not expect seeing that I’ve enjoyed free tasting at high-​end tea shops in the US and Malaysia. However, that aside, I’m really looking forward to going back when I’ve depleted my current stock — I’m really pleased to have found Postcard.

This place is amazing and a godsend. My husband and I visited this place a couple of years ago. They have a wonderful selection of high quality tea, and they are one of the only place I know that sells Korean tea. I highly recommend nokcha if they still carry it. The owner was very generous and allowed us to try several tea. I bought one of the dancongs and we each sent a post card tea to each other. Quite a neat idea and a good way to take care of souvenirs if you have tea lovers in the family. Not sure if they still do it, but they even covered the cost of the post ^_^

This is really a shop selling tea rather than a café, as the other two reviews suggest, but it’s true that the lovely owner invites you to try his teas while sitting at a long bench-​like table in the calm atmosphere of this little shop tucked away behind Oxford Street and Bond Street. The emphasis is on Chinese and Japanese teas but there are some good Indian teas and blends of all of the above too, as well as some delicious and unusual caffeine-​free teas which are a million miles away from the disgusting fruit-​scented washing-​up water one usually comes across. I bought some green mulberry leaf tea (actually from the white mulberry tree) which has amazing health benefits as well as a delicious taste. I also took home with me some English Afternoon tea, a mixture of Oolong and Assam. The owner gave me lots of advice on how to brew different types of tea correctly (so no more green tea tasting of seaweed because the water was too hot!). The teas come in caddies with labels like tiny works of art, and also in vacuum-​sealed packs (with the same labels) which can be printed with your own message and sent anywhere in the world. (Hence ‘Postcard Teas’.)

Wonderful quiet little tea place just off Oxford Street. It’s hard to believe that just metres away from the shopping crazed multitudes there can be such a tranquil place. I almost can’t believe I’m still in London.
The interior is small but cosy with just one long wooden table for people to sit around. The choice of tea is almost overwhelming and they all look good, don’t think I can manage one of each, even though I wouldn’t mind trying.
In addition to serving tea they also sell it for you to bring home.
I’ve been meaning to try it for a while but never got around to do it. I almost didn’t write this review because I don’t want people to start coming here but they deserve all business they can get. I’d hate to see it replaced by yet another Costa or similar.

Absolutely brilliant selection of teas which, if you have a little time, come accompanied with a taste of Tim’s exceptional knowledge.
Popped in here actually looking to sit down for a cuppa and biscuit, not having any idea about the shop or what I was in store for. While the tea may be considered expensive it is exceptional. If you’re the kind of person who lives by the philosophy of «life is to short to drink bad wine» then life is definitely too short to use cheap, dusty teabags…

There’s a passion for tea in this charming little place.
I like the tea tasting, but I kinda wish they mentioned it cost money if you don’t end up buying any. :P
I left with two teas in tow (I had been shopping for awhile): Big Smoke (cinnamon-​smoked tea) and a coffee blossom tea.

On my trip to London, I was in search of some great English tea. I searched out Postcard on the prompting of my guidebook and some other review sites. I love teas, but was surprised to find this «English» tea house to be so Asian influenced. Coming from an Asian background and from SF, I was looking for something more «exotic». Like black teas. :) But despite that, I deeply enjoyed my visit to this shop. A little piece of Zen in the West End tucked between many luxury boutiques. There’s a wide variety of teas to choose from that the owner will very carefully describe in detail, and several options for enjoying the teas from Postcard.
1) Buy a packet of tea (in a tin or in a postcard) to take/​mail home and enjoy.
2) Buy a tasting (or cup of tea)
3) A fusion of 1 + 2. Sample (different from the tastings), the teas and buy the one you like.
The owner was very generous and friendly. He had traveled thru Asia when he was younger, and had grown relationships with different tea farmers. He imports directly from some of the farms to his store. You can tell he does this for the love of the teas over profit. Many loyal regulars seemed to filter in and out as I sat sipping my teas.
I tried about 8 – 10 teas before choosing a few to buy. It was clear that the owner was brewing them with care. I could hear him getting mad at himself when he didn’t think he had brewed a cup well enough. Had a really good conversation with him and his friends after about the teas they love.
Great shop for picking up presents for friends and making a few new ones.

Where I’m from, «Cuppa tea love?» is a national saying, so It’s no surprise that I’m a big fan of a good brew. So thank God I’ve found Postcard Teas hidden away just off New Bond Street (opposite House of Frasier). When you’re all shopped out, this place is an Oasis of calm where you can stay safely tucked away from the frenzy of the high street… for as long as you like.
You’re greeted like an old friend as you enter before you sit down at the long communal Japanese tea table. Most times I’ve been I’ve had it all to myself apart from the odd person at the end with their head in a book. It’s so wonderfully peaceful that I usually sit and wind down for a good hour before hitting the shops again.
This isn’t your average tea shop, it’s a mixture of East meets West, with a drinking area and shop (offering tea caddies, pots and other tea related paraphernalia) in one. The owner, Tim d’Offay has a incredible passion for what he does and is usually on hand to tell you all about his travels twice a year to India and Sri Lanka to source the best teas available. He works directly with producers to ensure that he brings back some of the most interesting and delicious tea in the world.
The first time I went I hadn’t even heard of most of what was on the menu, but Tim was happy to talk all things tea with me until I’d found my perfect match. I settled on a second flush Darjeeling without milk and at only £1.50 a cup (if you buy a packet of the same tea you get it for free) it was well worth it. Each week they also offer one choice of cake so I had a slice of carrot cake too for £2.
I just hate the Starbucks and Café Nero’s of this world that have reduced the aspect of tea and coffee drinking to some fast food style horror, but Postcard Teas embodies everything a good cuppa should be. I love it here.

This English-​Japanese fusion tea house feels more like a gift shop than a café. But the selection of unusual (and expensive) teas is fantastic so it’s a great place to find gifts for tea lovers.
They also sell «Tea Postcards» which are these pretty packets of tea that they will mail anywhere in the world for you. They handle all the forms (customs, postage, etc) so it’s really easy. I had one sent to Seattle and it arrived within about 4 days (probably faster than a regular postcard).
My only complaint is that they charge so much for tastings that it’s hard (expensive) to make an informed choice.

We came here on account of one of Tom’s regulars. A terrific place to come unwind, you can sample one-​of-​a-​kind teas that you won’t find anywhere else for £1.50 a cup (and up, for the more exquisite brews). And if you can’t make up your mind on which tea, Tom is happy to offer you suggestions.
We tried two cups of black tea – one was a first flush that was very fresh… almost too fresh-​tasting for tea – and one cup of Swallow’s Tongue green tea. It was described as having a heavy umami taste, and it was definitely one of the strangest cup of teas I’ve had, in a good way. We ended up buying a tin and leaving happy and refreshed.
I was debating between 4 or 5 stars… unfortunately the postcard exhibit downstairs was under renovation, and I was just a little disheartened to only find about 3 oz. of tea in my cup. Still, it’s a great little shop to check out and explore some rare teas.

Featured in Time Out Magazine, this place is the perfect place to bring a loved one or tourists to London for some afternoon tea.
First off, its not a proper tea place in that it is really just a long wooden bench in a tea shop run by a husband and wife team. However, it is a good place to unwind after an afternoon on the bustling Oxford Street.
Each cup of tea is £1.50 (with some special teas more expensive), and each day they have a special homemade cake available as well for £2 a slice. Their tea menu is adventurous, with teas from all over the world from Africa to Korea to South America. It is, however, not the traditional English tea experience with scones and clotted cream, but it is sure to wow a date or guests and has that classy hip factor even though its cheap.
Also, if you decide to buy a packet of tea leaves (from £3.50) after your visit, you get a cup of tea for free to try.