Ahmad Tea

I’m not normally a fan of fruit teas in teabags. Herbal ones I don’t mind, but for some reason I always seem to find fruit ones really bitter. However, Kittylovestea sent me a sample of this in our recent swap, and it would have been bad manners not to drink it.

I am glad I did. It actually tasted of Strawberry, and the black tea was just the right foil to the sweetness that was coming across. Still an amount of bitterness, but not unpleasant in this instance. Whether that’s the tea or my tastes changing, I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really matter does it?

SIPDOWN! (305) another one from kittylovestea that i was excited to try! Bagged tea be damned, this is a REALLY nice strawberry tea. I think this would make a darn good latte as well! I may have to do some digging to see if i can find a box of this is any of my stores around here just to have these to tuck away at work since bagged seems to be the way to go. I for sure lost track of steeping this one and it didn’t become bitter/astringent.

Thank you kitty!

Second morning in a row. Big ol’ snowflakes (MAY 4!!) the size of your thumb falling in lazy 3-D on my recently mowed lawn.

We survived the night with space heaters and long johns, baked cinnamon Grands for breakfast, and put on the kettle.

This strong breakfast blend will knock the ice off your ears and probably unclog your drain, too, as stout as I steeped it this morning. With a little milk to take the edge off, it has a dark rye or pumpernickel feel to it.

If I were to try this loose leaf version for the very first time today I would probably give it an 83 or so but it is my comfort tea so the high rating stands.

Today I poured it into my new double walled ceramic travel cup from Starbucks. It did not suck the flavor out of the cup like our plastic lined cups. It smelled like tea. It tasted like tea, and the ceramic felt good on the lips. The near boiling water made the rim very hot at first. Once it was cool enough to the touch, the tea was also cooled enough to drink comfortably. It fit securely in the cup holder of my car. I think I will like this cup. It did justice to my comfort tea.

This tea had small entire leaves lightly scented with a fruity smelling jasmine. The brewed tea requires slightly more leaves than I normally brew with (about 1.5 my normal), and a lower brewing temp or the tea brews very dark and bitter. If you use too little the tea base contributes nothing. The tea smells of a light fruity jasmine and a
fruity black tea with hints of berry and cherry, and a heavier undertone like burnt sugar, and is lightly floral beyond the jasmine.

The taste develops its strongest flavour when lukewarm or cool. It might make a decent ice tea. This tea is not for someone who requires
their tea to be hot. On first sip the tea tastes weak, but develops into an interesting mix of bitter, earthy, malty undertone like charred bread toped by a cool floral, followed, by a sweet, dark red berry flavour with a hint of burnt sugar.

The tea is tannic and when brewed at higher temperatures astringent. I might try brewing it for a little longer at lower temperatures again. I find that if I doubled the leaf at boiling the bitter tones intensify and the mouth feel is almost like drinking coffee. The jasmine is quite light it bends into the flavour of the tea and while its smell is quite fruity it tastes more of a cool floral. It does not taste powdery though.

This tea while offering value for the money is not as flavourful as the bagged jasmine black I recently bought. I think I prefer a slightly sweeter, stronger flavoured base underneath the flavouring and I prefer a sweeter fruitier jasmine. The hunt continues for my preferred jasmine black, I’ll keep looking although this is not my favourite
flavour in tea I find it quite sophoric and the other jasmine black I own actually can put me to sleep.

A bit of a bitter aftertaste, but overall a very well balanced tea. Just enough hints of lemon and lime to give the black tea some flavour, but not enough to take away from the blend.

Quite a nice tea. Smells like a strawberry candy but tastes like a black tea with a strawberry essence.

This morning I grabbed this because I only had one left and it was easy. The scent and flavor of this hit me today as fresh from the porch rosemary with cinnamon, clove, and ginger. Of course none of those are actually in this nice bagged tea. Good morning cup.

I bought this for the tins. On Amazon, you can get this in a 4 pack of so-cute-it-oughta-be-illegal little English phonebox tins (not pictured here). I justified the purchase by reasoning that I could drink the tea at work where I still use bags and use the tins at home for tea storage.

Well, the tins are just as cute in person, maybe more so, but my greedy little eyeballs breezed right over the description that they’re also banks. So each one has a coin slot in the top. Sigh.

They come with a bit of tape over the coin slot, and I added a second, bigger piece, and I’ll just put the label for whatever tea it is on top so it looks less wonky.

But why am I spending so much time on the tins? Because the tea is utterly unremarkable. It’s dust in a bag that brews up to an average, slightly tart/sour, english breakfast blend. I have 99 more of these and I’ll drink them easily; it isn’t crap. But there’s not much to say about it. It’s a lot like all the tea I drank before I knew more about tea.

Much better than the Impra from this morning. Still an inexpensive bagged tea but the jasmine is very natural. The standard Chinese green base is nice and vegetal. A good bagged choice.

As you can probably figure from my reviews, Ahmad is my favorite brand for bagged tea. Spearmint is my least favorite flavored tea. It’s like sipping tea with gum in your mouth. Except I NEVER chew spearmint gum. Ick. So what happens when my favorite bagged brand makes my least favorite flavored tea? Maybe I am giving them a pass because I trust them, but I don’t find this repulsive. It will never be a favorite but if someone offered me a cup I would definitely accept. The mint is not overwhelming and I can taste the green base. I did not find this astringent. I heated the water to heavy steam then turned off the kettle and waited until it grew quiet before pouring – no idea what the temp is but it works.

It appears to have been 4 months since I last sipped this one. I think it is the oldest non-puerh in my stash. I used more leaf just in case it is loosing strength. it still tastes awesome. My favorite inexpensive Earl Grey. It’s $1.50 an ounce purchased locally. It may be cheaper online. This starts with the hearty bite of Ceylon. Next the bergamot takes over growing in intensity, going right to the brink of making me flinch. Then as it fades the Ceylon aftertaste lingers. Me and this tea go way back and I still love it.

There are not adjectives powerful enough to describe how I loathe springing forward. Sorry, DST lovers. My poor circadian rhythms are in a tailspin.

Nothing’ll do but tea-based caffeine at its stoutest until I actually see daylight in the morning again. So this may be in the frequent-drinker lineup for a while. When you dole out the leaves judiciously, it has a little coppery-fruity foretaste. As it sits, it just builds more muscle. Muscle I need to drag me through the day, I think.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

A very good Ceylon. It doesn’t scream ‘copper’, like Lover’s Leap Estate does, but it is unmistakably Ceylon black tea. I tend for forget about it, as I like to around with the fancy China teas and the bold Assams, but Ahmnad’s Ceylon is quiet, dependable, and delicious. No bitterness at 4 minutes.

I just realized the I’ve logged my teas this morning in the reverse order of how I drank them, LOL. I started with the one I was currently drinking, back tracked through the 2nd one, & now I’ve arrived at the one I sipped in bed.

This is a basic EB. No real high or low notes, but drinkable.

I started my morning with a cup of this, since I’m at Tony’s & it’s here.
It’s ok, but there are many other teas I’d rather be drinking. Still, I will drink it until it’s gone, then I’ll recycle the tin (which is the best part of this tea) into storing something better! :)

Still think this is quite a nice bagged green. It does not however go well with Doritos. That did not stop me. :)

Debating this with myself – I think I may stop giving a rating number at least for now. I still have my personal rating scale on my profile at the moment. My ratings have been consistent with my scale but it is subjective. My numbers are often higher than other opinions. It seems awkward to lower my numbers to match other’s scale, and I don’t want to appear to be inflating numbers either. Maybe I think too much.

A review of English Tea No. 1 by Ahmad Tea

Company: Ahmad Tea
Tea Name: English Tea No. 1
Tea Type/Varietal: black
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: tea bag
Liquor Color: reddish brown
Leaf Characteristics:

1. Steepings

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 3 minutes

I purchased a cup of this tea from a small sandwich and snack shop one morning while waiting for the library to open. It seems I am always waiting for the library to open, since I am not employed and can’t drive myself about; I am dropped off too early prior to businesses being open. I am a vagrant of sort.

Anyhow, I bought a cup of this tea since the associate of this shop said this was the only tea that they had or carried. It was a good cup of tea. It was nicely hot, that aside; the tea was smooth with a good heft in the body; tea’s aroma was that of a roasted brew. I mean it smelled strong and when sipping this tea it was malty with a smooth finish. I did not add any sugar or cream. I simply had it as was given to me, plain and it was quite enjoyable.

Overall, the tea was a nice blend of Ceylon tea with a smooth texture and not robust enough as Assam teas tend to be.

I know that I enjoyed the tea from beginning sip to ending sip.

Tony placed his first tea order last week, & he included a tin of the English Breakfast for me, as he knows I love my breakfast tea. That was really sweet of him, he’s the most wonderful man I’ve ever known. (no, he’s not reading this, it’s actually true).

The tea is ok, but nothing to write home about. I’ll drink it when I’m at his house, but it’s not something I would buy.

But he’s still wonderful! I love my Man :D

Chinese green tea fannings in a bag. Ok, I’m biased towards Ahmad tea. They make some of my favorite bagged teas and my comfort loose leaf earl grey. That admission aside, this is way better than it has to be for bagged green tea. Seriously, have you had some of what passes for green tea in the grocery store? Most of it is barely recognizable as tea. Some of it even tastes like paint. This tastes like a simple Chinese green. It lacks depth but it will do when you need a fix on the quick.

1.5 tsp for 300mL @ 100C, steeped 3 minutes, drunk bare.

A creamy Ceylon, lots of body and heft. I like it better at 3 minutes versus my former 5. Bright and brisk, with some pucker, and a very comforting scent.

There is no bergamot in this tea. It’s just straight up blended Ceylon.

This would be lovely cold-brewed for an iced tea. It also cries out for an afternoon tea party, with sandwiches and cookies.

I avoided strawberry tea for the longest time as I expected to hate it. Gmathis sent a Cheapster Steepster award winner of a strawberry tea bag my way and changed my mind. Now this one is one I had planned to buy the first time I saw it. Ahmad is my favorite company for tea bag tea as they just seem to get it right more often than not. Before I could find it Brett sent this my way. I opened the envelope and swore I had just opened a box strawberries out of the fridge. Awesome. Steeped for 4 or 5 minutes. The taste is lighter than the smell but it is pretty close to the real deal. I like that it is light enough to taste the tea. It gets bonus points for that. If you are going to drink bagged tea it might as well be a good one. I will still buy this when I see it in the store. High yum factor. 85 is pretty high for a bagged but worth it to my taste buds.

Steepster seems to be acting up so hopefully this post and can be read. I Slept in late this morning. Need tea. Most of my stuff is still packed up. I found the tea bags I intended to take on my last day of work but had forgotten them. Heated the water in the microwave (which I hate doing) and steeped for… uhmmm, well until the water was cool. You would think I had never done this before. This one seemed pretty forgiving. The lime pops. It kind of opened my eyes. Then I taste the lemon. Bonus, I can taste the tea. A lot of grocery store bagged teas aren’t balanced. Ahmad generally does a great job as they have done here. Lemon and lime are never flavors I have on their own so I think they taste natural in this but maybe you would disagree. Anyway they taste nice here. The base seems mellow. In their Earl Grey the base has rougher edges. For a no fuss cup this worked well.

Going to my happy place with some comfort tea.