Postcard Teas: A Few Impressions

For almost ten years now, we’ve sworn by Mariage Frères when it comes to shopping for high quality loose tea leaves. The nearest shop, however, is in Lille, which is almost three hours away. Their webshop is crude and doesn’t allow for a taste session before buying hence we did buy our fair amount of misses. Yet we remained faithful: the few times that we diverged from the brand ended up in a disappointment.

And then I saw someone claiming that London-based Postcard Teas is “even better than Mariage Frères”. My initial reaction to that was “impossible”. I secretly made a note in my journal regardless. When our stock started to dwindle, I dug up that note and said to myself: what the heck, let’s do something crazy and order elsewhere.

Postcard Teas is a small shop in London that sells specialty teas by importing directly from the growers. Their unique selling point is hinted in the name: these growers only have a few acres in which they aim to grow the best quality possible. The result is only a few kilograms of yield each year, yet the average price remains acceptable. Each bag of tea you order comes wich a lovely postcard and piece of art depicting a work from the country of origin. I have no idea where Mariage Frères’s tea comes from and love the fact that with Postcard Teas, this knowledge is accessible—even evident. Besides the location and yield, the back of the postcard even contains the grower’s name and a tidbit of bio.

Watch China Minutes’ visit to the small shop to breathe in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, I’ll go prepare myself a cup of their summer Darjeeling.

Still interested? Great! Yet people outside UK should be warned as shipping comes with a hefty taxation at the border I didn’t mentally prepare for… Just take that into account when you’re browsing their webshop—and don’t forget to compare prices with your usual supplier per 100 gr, not the deceptive 50. With that being said, here are some impressions of the teas we tried out:

Black Teas

Pure

Golden Darjeeling

A lovely dark red tea that goes down very well without being too strong. I usually buy first flush/spring Darjeeling and kind of wish I did here as well as that’s usually milder, but this summer Darjeeling is excellent, even if you accidentally let it steep for too long. Contrary to its spring variant, it also handles heat very well, so I usually set it with boiling water.

A pure Darjeeling is usually my go-to in the morning or even right after lunch. This black tea is less black than the cheap green powdered teas bought in supermarkets.

4 out of 5 Blounts—Great.

Scented

Gianfranco’s Earl Grey

The first thing that came to mind after opening the bag is: I hope the strong scent does not reflect in the taste. And luckily, it doesn’t. Mariage Frères’ Roi Des Earl Grey is more purgent, up to the point that they might have overdone it. Gianfranco’s bergamots in Calabria pair very well with Kerala’s small Darjeeling tea farms.

The structure and colour of the tea is very similar to the previous one, the Golden Darjeerling. This is because Postcard Teas blends both flavours in their shop in London giving them the advantage of carefully choosing both ingredients. Since I love a good Darjeerling, it’s impossible to resist.

I do still prefer Mariage Frères’ more daring lavender Early Grey.

4 out of 5 Blounts—Great.

New Assam Chai

This is the first tea from Postcard Teas that I like less the more I drink it. The culprit? The particular blend of spices: way too much green cardamon. Cardamon is a spice with a minty freshness that easily overpowers everything else, as it indeed does here.

Also, the Assam is cut in finer pieces than I’d wish making this brew very dark and strong. I recognise the need for a strong tea to counterbalance the just as strong spices here but for me it was just a bit too much. Adding lemon and honey helps but only up to a point. I know you’re supposed to drop a few splashes of milk in it but I’m not British nor Indian so I don’t.

2 out of 5 Blounts—Mediocre.

Green Teas

Pure

Guri Green

This is a traditional curled green tea from Japan called a “kamairicha” tea: instead of steaming the tea to stop the oxidation, kamairicha is roasted in a dry pan. Contrary to most Japanese teas such as Sencha, the typical bitter taste is gone because of this process. Mr Ogasa’s farm in Gokase is only 14 acres big.

I’m not a huge Japanese tea expert but I do like this one. I do find it difficult to properly prepare: at more than 75 C the tea oxidises and still comes off as a bit too bitter. It’s more evenly balanced than the Senchas I have tried before, but that does mean it can come across as bland. I enjoy this tea the most when I am not doing anything else besides drinking tea.

3 out of 5 Blounts—Good.

Miyazaki Oolong

This complimentary little bag of Oolong tea leaves from Mr. Takuya Yokoyama tastes like a sweet Sencha instead of a typical Oolong tea. It’s one of the greenest ones with virtually no astringency, as described by Postcard Teas themselves. This is exceptional tea of which only 10 kg was madein 2025. This is interesting because Oolong is usually made in China, not Japan.

The problem is that this tea is very delicate: if you’re working or watching or playing something, you might gulp this down without blinking and afterwards think “what did I just drink?” I think these delicate teas are an acquired taste and require a mindful, peaceful moment of tea but nothing else. But why should I buy this Oolong when I already have the Guri Green?

I usually prefer my Oolongs to be a bit more oxidised. I hope I’m not getting slammed for this. Oolong teas have a huge variety in roasting/oxidation/etc and this one ranges in the “barely Oolong at all” category. What I also learned is that for Oolong teas the first steep is usually a “wash” to get to the more flavourful second steeps. Perhaps I should try that for Miyazaki’s tea.

3 out of 5 Blounts—Good.

Scented

Jasmine Green

As mentioned on the postcard: “a delightful Vietnamese tea made with spring-picked green tea from Mr. Than’s tea co-op in the mountain village of Ban Lien in Lao Cai province”. Delightful is indeed the correct word here: this must be one of the best Jasmine teas I have ever tasted. It’s very delicate, never bitter, and after you’ve had a cup, you want to make another. What else can I say?

It accepts 80 C but you better wait a few more minutes until it cooled down to at least 75 C and not let it steep for too long. Of course, our pantry now doesn’t stock the three Mariage Frères jasmine teas we tried, so I can’t directly compare them. They’re all great and completely different from the supermarket-bought Jasmine crap.

5 out of 5 Blounts—Amazing.

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