Ahmad Tea

I have a little loose-leaf tin of this tucked away, and it has the sweetest, most wonderful strawberry smell. However as it typical of fruit-flavoured black teas, the flavour doesn’t copy over exactly! After making this iced earlier today I had a little hot tea left over for a tasting; and, black, brewed strong, it has a lot of astringency to get past before finding the fresh, malty fruit notes in this. It’s unlike a fruit tea where the fruit is just an afterthought; it definitely works alongside the black tea, although that might take a strong brew to discover.

Was given to me by friend. The aroma was very powerful and fantastic; the flavour was lighter than expected compare to the initial hit of the aroma. But overall very enjoyable tea.

Brilliant.

It’s unusual to see apple flavours paired with a black tea – usually it’s with a green or white tea base, I’ve found. It smells quite fragrant like a sweet ripe, freshly cut apple. The flavour is interesting, starting and finishing with apple notes and in between is the black tea which is a tad astringent. Pretty tasty all told.

Pureleaf sent me some of this! Thanks a bunch :)

This is a nice darjeeling. Not as astringent as some Darjeelings and like that just fine and dandy.

It’s sightly floral and slightly citrusy, even.

This is very satisfying for the time of day – YAY!

I picked this tea up when I was visiting an Iranian friend in Victoria – apparently this is one of his favorite teas. For a bagged tea it’s not bad at all. The addition of the bergamot gives the tea a subtle earl grey flavour, though this is more apparent when the tea is taken plain rather than with milk. It has a hearty, robust kick to it but at the same time it’s smooth enough that it can be drunk without milk if you prefer your tea with no additives.

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.

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.

1.5 tsp for 250mL water @ 95C, steeped four minutes, drunk bare.

This is a really good Ceylon tea. Bright and cheerful.My mom-in-law will make an entire 6-cup pot from the amount I use for a cup, so it’s pretty versatile. Forgives an accidentally long steep, but I find I really like it at the four-minute mark. Would welcome cookies and shortbreads, I think; I’d fearlessly serve this as a fancy tea party.

1 rounded tsp per 250mL cup, steeped 5 minutes.

I got this as a gift, a great big half-pound box of it, and man, am I happy about that. A bright Ceylon, tasting of sunshine. No copper notes, as you’d get from the Lover’s Leap estate, but then this is a blend. A really, really good blend. Light in body but complex in flavour. Some heft, some classic Ceylon tea taste, a a very slight mineral note in the finish, that ‘clean’ taste. Refreshing.

Certainly a great any time of the day tea.

You will be hard pressed to have a good golden tippy full leaf Assam tea for the price of around $8.

It carries a medium punch of caffeine along with good astringency.

I tend to like the serving color at amber, which would mean cutting the recommended steeping time in half (8mins is recommended).

Beware: Steeping for 8mins or longer will produce a much higher astringency (bitter, even) and a jolt of caffeine equaled to a kick from the south end of a north bound mule! :)

It’s been quite awhile since I last had this tea, and was in the mood for something a little different. This particular pot I decided to make a pot of Moroccan Mint, of which the result was amazing!

Even after a couple hours now, I’m still thinking of making more of this delicious tea. There is something about adding mint to a smokier, yet smooth green tea that can get the taste buds, craving more.

My rating will reflect the green tea without the mint, which is a nice green tea. There is no comparison here though. Either I’m in the mood for a more mintier flavored beverage, or this is one of the greatest, small addition one can make to a tea.

BTW: My rating for this go around would be 96 – no questions!

Very aromatic and smooth to the taste, with a very light floral note. It tends to have a very slight bitter aftertaste (even with a shorter steep time and lower temp). I personally brew this tea a minute shorter than recommended, results in a lighter tangerine amber color and less bitter aftertaste. Also, I find it a great midday/early afternoon choice of leaf. There is no need for sweetener,however will splurge occasionally with a turbinado sugar, orange blossom honey or white agave nectar.

Backlog: This is not a bad tea for the buy, however I’m not very experienced in this style of flavored teas to rate this one properly. It’s much stronger smelling with the dry leaves, than the liquid it produces. The dark leaves are enticing, however it’s very bold aroma made me slightly leery of proceeding forward with.

I must say that I must taste other Earl Grey’s to adequately define it’s range of boldness and comparative qualities. Overall, this tea encounter was nice and fitting for a early evening brew of tea.

It’s a fairly warm day which is probably the only chance of a dry day this summer so to take advantage of this I pulled out the fruity tea. Voila, strawberry tea screams summer.

Colour: Dark brown.
Smell: Strawberry gummy sweets but with a hint of darkness.

A lovely fruity tea with a fairly strong and yummy taste of sweet strawberry. It still reminds me of the gummy strawberry sweets you can buy in flavour but the sweetness is not over powering because of the black tea. It’s a good black tea with a little bitterness and a decent strength.

Don’t over steep this loose leaf tea. It is my go-to morning cup of caffeine.

Colour: Dark coffee brown.
Smell: Sweet juicy peach.

The taste is not as strong as the smell which is a little disappointing. The peach and passionfruit are the first flavours you can taste before the black tea creates a sharp after taste. The balance is not the best but it’s also not the worst. It could do with stronger fruit flavours for me as I like my fruit tea very fruity.

Artificial.

However I try to make this tea, bigger or smaller amount of leaves, longer or shorter infusion times, milk added or plain, the overwhelming bergamot scent (perfume rather, I’d say) simply does not allow me to enjoy tea. It even takes over all other flavours when I blend it with other teas. I have to make it drinkable by adding honey or lemon juice (milk does not help at all – it only aggravates!)

This is my favourite tea and so sad that it’s not sold in Australia! I agree with previous comments about it having the perfect balance of flavours. It doesn’t have a “fake” apple flavour like other fruit infused teas, it subtly laces the black tea with an apple flavour… delish!

Having a cup of this while I write and it is really good! I didn’t have milk with it or honey, just straight English Breakfast, but on my second cup I will try to see if I can introduce some milk to find out if like it less, equally or love it even more.

My first English Breakfast tea & I am looking forward to having this daily!

As a recent convert to tea, I found the taste strong as I only usually have clear, white tea or fruit infusions; But Earl Grey is so wonderful to drink and it gives me the energy I need after work when I usually feel tired and worn out from a day’s work.

Earl Grey is a recent discovery, and I have never been so wonderfully surprised in my life. I thought I was going to hate it because I am too spoilt by fruity teas. But I love this, the flavor is so distinct. I brew it up to 3 minutes so it doesn’t come out too bitter. I like it when its almost scalding hot.

I dont need to pair it with milk or sugar or honey because Earl Grey is perfectly dashing as it is. :)

Been away a few days. I didn’t try anything really new until last night, when I finally broke into one of the two new bagged teas I bought at a Middle Eastern “specialty food” shop here in town. Since I am basically timid, the teas were not all that weird but I hadn’t seen them in my usual haunts. One was Rumi pure organic rooibos, which see, and the other was Ahmad Cardamon and that’s how they spell it on the box.

I had NO idea what to expect. I like both cardamon and cilantro, so I thought it was worth the try. And today I am having Amy’s frozen dal of some sort with rice and green peas and chickpeas and moderately spicy tomato sauce and a chunk or two of cheese.

This tea seems perfect with that meal. I brewed it strong and added half-and-hlf. It’s creamy and slightly aromatic. I don’t know that I would get the cardamon if I didn’t know it was there. It’s coming across as a slight nuttiness. Alas, I see that it contains “cardamon flavouring” rather than actual shaved or ground cardamon. But it does not taste artificial.

I’ll be happy to finish this box, especially pairing it with spicy food, and perhaps try a more exotic brand with actual cardamon mixed into the tea next time.