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

THE TASTE OF JAPAN


FOUR RARE TEAS FROM HONSHU
Cultivated by master tea makers
and available for the first time in Europe.

To know more about the teas, please click on the names below:

Kyoto Hills Sencha
Edo Bancha
Kuromamecha
Sobacha
 
 
Unique "THE TASTE OF JAPAN" tea gift box comes with full instructions
Presented in a handmade box by Tokuriki Family.

Click HERE to know more about it.
 
 

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. 

3 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, or destroy them!

 

A POSTCARD FROM 18 YEARS OF TEA TRAVELS

 

Timothy d'Offay is one of the most widely travelled tea experts in the world today. He regularly visits India, Sri Lanka, Korea, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan to work with some of the world's finest small scale family tea producers.

These extensive travels gave the company its name as well as providing a range of rare and unique teas.  Teas sourced or blended by Timothy for other companies can be found at Asprey, Selfridges, Liberty, Harrods and Dean & Deluca amongst others. Postcard Teas also supplies several Michelin starred restaurants and some of the best coffee shops in London.

The store is located just off New Bond Street at 9 Dering Street in an 18th century building where tea was first sold over 200 years ago. At that time Dering Street was called Union Street and the ground floor was a grocery store that supplied the Mayfair area. It is near both Bond Street and Oxford Circus stations. We are open Monday to Saturday 10-30 to 6-30. All the teas we import or blend can be tried at the tasting table.

The teas are available in caddies or our unique Tea Postcard packs which can be sent anywhere in the world by posting them in our very own red postbox. As well as teas, we have a wide range of specialist tea accessories and handmade teaware from all over the world much of which is available online too. The store is also the location of our tea school which holds regular tastings and events, please see our Tea School page for details.

 

What's New

Beautifully handmade porcelain tea cups, by the imperial kiln from Qianlong period, Qing Dynasty. Click HERE to view them all.

The world smallest usable hand thrown Chaozhou red clay teapot by Chinese national ceramic master Yanming Zhang. Click HERE to know more about it. 

A set of ten Chaozhou red clay teapots by Chinese national ceramic master Yanming Zhang. He only made four sets of these teapots in total, one of the sets is now collected by Ziguang Pavillian in Zhongnanhai, where Chinese Central Government is.  Click HERE to know more about it.

A pair of Chaozhou red clay teapots, made by Chinese national ceramic master Yanming Zhang and his son Haiyuan Zhang. This pair of teapots are collected by Chinese Central Government. Click HERE to know more about these pair of beautiful teapots.

A Chaozhou hand thrown red clay teapot for daily use, by Chinese national ceramic master Yanming Zhang. Click HERE to know more about it.

Yixing purple clay hand slab-built teapot by Jian He and his wife Li Qin Zhang. Click HERE to know more about it.

Yixing purple clay hand slab-built teapot by Jian He and his wife Li Qin Zhang. Click HERE to know more about it.

Yixing purple clay hand slab-built teapot by Jian He and his wife Li Qin Zhang. Click HERE to know more about it.