Postcard Teas

Before steeping, the leaves are fragrant, with roasty notes – very promising. The liquor is a dark amber, and the flavor is elegant, smooth, and with a touch of rock flavor. I couldn’t taste the “fruity” notes promised in the online blurb, either in the aroma or flavor. It’s even better if you let the tea cool a bit, when you can appreciate the quality of preparation. One of the more expensive DHP’s.

Peach and grape on the front end, very fruity first infusion. 3rd infusion onwards, fruit front end remains but is muted, spice (ginger powder, black pepper) on the back end becomes more noticable. Subtly astringent and thick mouthfeel, with a lingering general sweetness aftertaste.

Unlike most of the teas on the site, this is a tea for milk and sugar. It’s a very high grade specialist tea, a tippy golden flowery orange pekoe picked before dawn (hence the golden tips) on a single Indian estate in the mountain state of Assam. One of the two finest black teas you can drink. Needs long steeping to bring out its deep malty richness.

Sold in London’s friendliest tea shop, Postcard Teas (just off Oxford Street), the shop includes a little cafe with lovely cakes, a great selection of loose leaf Indian, Chinese and Japanese teas and some classy tea paraphernalia. I have two of their Japanese tea caddies, gorgeous air-tight brass jars adorned with a single kanji ideogram that darkens with use over the years. Highly recommended.

Another of my spoils from London that I saved for a few months after my trip. This is delicious! I was a bit apprehensive because after being initially enamored with Mulberry Magic from DT, I’ve decided I might not like it so well after all, finding it too overpoweringly sweet. But, this last night after dinner this proved to be what I wish Mulberry Magic was! Really aromatic and rich, this is nutty and roasty and earthy with a bit of fruitiness that makes me think of dates.

The Bergamot and Darjeeling make for an unusual combination, not at all what I expected. A lovely light and refreshing tea.

Oh, when will I better be able to describe what I’m tasting?

I am really enjoying this tea. It’s succulent, rich, sweet and just earthy enough. So smooth, no bitterness.

Back from London, with a few teas in hand. I’ve been so looking forward to trying my purchases after a lot of bagged hotel tea all week. Postcard Teas was delightful. I limited myself to one black, one green, and one herbal though it was pretty heart-breaking to do so.

So, I’ve settled in with a big mug of this to help me recover (after sleeping on-and-off for the past 14 hours) from the transatlantic flights and long days on my feet scurrying around palaces, museums, and tea shops. I didn’t know quite where to start with this so I went with a quick steep of 2.5 minutes at something like 95 degrees. The leaves were beautifully big and twisty.

Excellent choice. This came out not surprisingly light, but surprisingly full-bodied. It’s gently earthy but also has a really lovely sweetness mentioned in the description. There’s absolutely no bitterness to be found, but a fair amount of astringency that makes it a good wake-up tea.

This is wonderfully complex in a mysterious way. Very likely I lack the ability to distinguish flavors, but I kept coming up with… paper. Paper in an old library that has picked up many qualities, leather binding, tobacco, spices and, of course, the wood from which it was made.
It is an elegant, aristocratic medium bodied tea.

I would recommend this in the tin, as it comes shipped in a padded envelope that could get squished. Mine fared well, but I will get my teas from them in a tin after this. It’s worth it.

This is another highly unusual offering from Postcard Teas. The flavor is tough to define, I would say that it has an essence of Chocolate Mocha coffee. It is very smooth, dark and delicious. I am only disappointed in it not holding up for a second steep. I brewed it 5 minutes the second time, and it looked like it would be worth the time and trouble, only to have almost no flavor at all. If I lived in London, I would be picking this up on a regular basis.

This is so chocolaty that I actually wrote to Tim before I reviewed it, to specify whether it had additional flavoring. And the answer was no. Unfortunately, he also indicated he may be unable to obtain more. While he has it, this is worth trying if you like deep, full flavored and… well, dark oolongs. I like it a lot, but it has a novelty quality to it that I will help me get over not having it.

As regards the flavour and smell, I haven’t anything to add to the last note I did, but I’ve decided to downgrade this a bit. Now that the novelty’s worn off, I’m finding the flavour – that cherry and cinnamon element – a little too ‘confectionery’ for my liking and something of which one tires. Indeed, I’m rarely drinking it ‘straight’ anymore, more usually brewing it half and half with the Bolivian Cochabamba.

I made this with a heaped teaspoon for a half-pint mug.

The smell in the mug is not easily describable – it has hints of Dettol and of chickens that have been out in the rain in hot weather.

In the mouth it has chocolate and charcoal and a touch of pleasant sharpness somewhere in between cinnamon and cherry.

This was given to me by my niece and I don’t think I’ve tasted anything quite like it – though it’s vaguely similar to Lapsang Souchong. Irrespective of wet chickens and Dettol, I’m really impressed with this – I think it’s going to be a new favourite of mine.

ETA – It’s the next morning and I’ve just made a pot. Three heaped teaspoons – my pot holds enough for three mugs – otherwise I made it the same way.

I have new thoughts on the aroma: charcoal and basic pizza, with a hint of cherry – perhaps the nostrils are in a different mood today.

In the mouth: much the same with, perhaps, a hint more of the cinnamon and cherry – I mean a hint more of the flavour, not the sharpness.

This has quite an invigorating, ‘pick-me-up’ quality to it, excellent for the first brew of the day.

PS – The picture I uploaded – eyes and nostrils – is what’s actually on the tin (and their website). It’s ever so slightly freaking me out and I thought – why should I suffer alone?

This my first ever Sencha – part of a gift from my niece.

I can’t really say a lot about the flavour: I found it quite mild and without much character, but pleasant enough – nothing to dislike about it. There was the tiniest invigorating bite – something like root ginger, but just the tiniest hint. Pleasant but nothing outstanding.

I let the kettle go off the boil for several minutes – as per the instructions – so I’m guessing at eighty-five degrees as the water temperature.

Incidentally, I made a second cup the same way from the same teaspoon of tea – I didn’t notice any difference.

ETA – I made this today with a bit more tea – a piled-up teaspoon instead of a moderately heaped one. It’s a bit more interesting – touches of boiled cabbage and liquorice with the teeniest hint of root ginger.

Just as yesterday, I made a second mug with the same teaspoon of tea and the flavour is just the same – fascinating to wonder how many times I could repeat it, but I couldn’t drink all that tea!

I think I over-steeped this tea, but it is still smooth. Just a bit too bitter now. It has caramel and malty notes. I will have to make another cup and try not to brew it too long!

A great “yan cha” style oolong that has a wonderful mix of a roasted flavors and fruity notes. I am always surprised at how much this tea fades after the first two infusions. With such a steep drop off in flavor, you may find that infusions 3+ require an unusually large increase in steep time. You can also experiment with more leaf. Personally, I don’t recommend rinsing this tea at all, but this is just a preference.

Prepared in small glass pot for about 8 min of single brewing

Prepared in tasting set, 2 grams of tea, brewed for 3 min.