Ahmad Tea London

This one surely took its time in my cupboard…
Very faint aroma, malty, the flowery and blossom notes are almost nonexistent.
Solid malty and earthy base black tea with slight astringency plus marigold and orange blossom flavouring in the background.
Not bad. Surely not as overdone as the majority of Xmas teas.

This is a smooth cup of black tea for morning. There are no harsh notes but it also does not have a lot of flavor. I would say it is moderate for most Assams I have had, and moderate for most black teas.

Has a broth-y mouthfeel to it. This one is heavy on the fennel and ginger, with the peppermint giving it a little bit of a green, cooling edge in the aftertaste. I do wish I were getting more of the dandelion and rosemary.

Did not have high hopes for this one. Another boring plain Ceylon? Thanks, Sips By…
But this is actually really nice! It’s flavorful and hearty, but doesn’t have the icky astringency that Ceylon teas usually have. And I’m getting a note of… ginger? Whatever it is, I’m liking it a lot.

Really surprising, an absolute delight.

Akin to other reviews here, my baseline was Twinings English Breakfast. It’s a hearty tea that takes well to cream or sugar. Ahmad though… There’s just something to this blend, and it is smoother.

The nose has some zest to it. Like a mix of light citrus with floral, woodsy notes.

The body is nice and malty, but still very smooth. There is a delightful pine needle bite on the finish which brings that citrus zest back to the palate, but not in a way that overpowers. Just enough to offer some tannin and taste.

Overall it is the smoothness of this tea that gets me. It just seems a cut above competitors in a way that I would not expect from an inexpensive bagged tea. I would joyfully drink a cup each morning if it was all I had around. This passes the test and I would feel great about serving it to guests too. Excellent!

A perfect choice today while I played my board game: Ceylon (about the beginning of the tea plantations there).

Enjoyable, pretty standard, but overall a pleasing cup of tea.

Came in a Sipsby box. It’s a black tea. Plain Jane to me.

One of the most delicious teas I own and what I would consider one of Ahmad’s flagship blends. It’s incredibly moreish on its own, but also works nicely with a little rock sugar.

I am finding Ahmad Teas to be among the best I have gotten at an Indian or Asian Market. While they are not up to the quality of what I get online, or even at my local tea store, they are not bad. This one is strong, making me think of adding milk. It has a note that I would describe as loosely citrus and it seems to be often found in Ceylon teas in general. It is also brisk like a Ceylon tea. Some bitterness steeped into this one. I think it would be better at a lower temperature.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

This tea is better than I had a right to expect. I only paid 8 or 9 dollars for 500g of this blend. They went light on the bergamot oil with this one and there is a fruity note. So far this brand is the best I have gotten from the Indian market. Whenever I go to the Indian or Asian market I always come away with some teas. This is among the best from these markets. The tea seems reasonably high quality for the price paid.

I brewed this once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

Well, that’s interesting. I just read my note for Ahmad Primetime when I drank it hot. It sounds amazingly like my comments on Assam 1860 iced. This one iced is OK but not memorable. Possibly it is just too weak. The color is bright orange/red. Hot it was so dark it had an almost a purplish tint. I have always been a big fan of Ahmad. I am going to take the blame for this one being kind of meh. I am now out of it, so I won’t get another chance to get it right.

So, not long ago on my FB feed Ahmad had a post where they gave away a few samples of this tea. I was there at the right place at the right time and scored a box of 10 tea bags.

The bags are tagless and each contains just over 3g of CTC leaf. This is a blend of Assam, Kenyan, and Ceylon tea and it smells pretty good. Fresh and fruity with almost a pipe tobacco scent.

Steeping 3 minutes produced probably the best looking cup of tea ever from a bag. It was a deep cherry mahogany and had kind of a purplish cast. This is full bodied and brisk just as you would expect from the blend. The bite is not overwhelming or excessively bitter. I have read comparisons to PG Tips but I found that one and Yorkshire Gold to both be far too bitter for my tastes.

This one I liked straight up. Sweetener took away from the cup when added. For me, same with milk. It took milk fine but I like the bite and I hated ruining that color.

If you aren’t opposed to bags and you can find it – this is worthy of trying.

I found an Ahmad tea locally!! It’s the only one I have seen available around here, but I’ll take it! Good strength, smooth, better than many higher-priced teas…pretty much sums up every Ahmad tea.