Ahmad Tea

This is my second cup of Ahmad’s Blackcurrant tea, and I did taste more of the blackcurrant this time, though it tasted more like unsweetened sour blackcurrants (even after adding sugar) than like the blackcurrant jam I used to eat in Britain. I woud say I like this the least of Ahmad’s fruit teas (which I generally love).

I think this is the same tea, though Ahmad now calls it Blackcurrant burst. It has a smooth Ceylon black base, but I don’t taste any blackcurrants. I spent quite a bit of time in England while I was pursuing an advanced degree, and I came to love blackcurrant jam. I cannot sense any blackcurrant flavor, perhaps it is my cold, though I had no trouble tasting the lemon and lime, and peach and passionfruit earlier today. I’ll have to try it again in a few days before rating the tea.

Similar to Twinings in flavor, though perhaps the bergamot is a bit stronger. I don’t really care for Earl Grey; too much like grapefruit to me.

Smooth flavor, like an English Breakfast tea, but with a subtle peppery kick, perhaps from the bergamot. No bitterness. I would probably not go out of my way to buy this, but I will enjoy what I have in the sampler set.

Spearmint flavor, very similar to Numi Moroccan Mint, though less strong. The green tea flavor is very weak, swallowed up by the mint (or perhaps it is because I steeped it at 175 degrees. Unlike the Numi, however, it has a drying, astringent finish.

My taste buds are off today since I have a cold. Hot tea, though, is nice on the throat, especially Ahmad’s fruity flavors. The cold mutes or tones down the flavor and it is less intense than it should be, though I do taste both the peach and the passionfruit. I think I would like this tea a lot more without the cold. As the tea cools somewhat, the flavors come out more.

The lemon flavor and aroma are faint, even with honey and splenda added. The grassy flavor of the green tea seems to drown out the lemon, which I sense only as an aftertaste. I just cannot manage to like green tea.

This tea has a candy-like aroma, but a more fruity taste. The strawberry flavor tastes natural, and is rather mild, and does not overwhelm the black tea. I actually wish the fruit taste was a bit stronger. It has a somewhat bitter finish, though this may be because I steeped it for four minutes instead of the recommended three.

I have a sore throat and I thought a fruit tea would be soothing. The apple flavor tastes natural, more like apple juice than apple cider. Added honey to overcome the bitter edge, but no milk. Their lemon and lime black tea probably would have been better for my throat, but I wanted to try a new tea.

I liked this tea much better the second time – perhaps it tasted bland because I was getting a cold.

Somewhat bland compared to Twinings English Breakfast, much blander than Twinings Ceylon, which I just had. Not offensive, but not really great either. Nothing to write home about; not my cup of tea.

Tasted much better this time now that I have the correct steeping time. Who would have thought that 15-20 seconds would make a difference?

Nice lemon-lime aroma and flavor; they taste natural, not artificial, and the flavor does not overpower the black tea. It has a bitter edge/aftertaste, but that is appropriate given the lime flavor. I added sugar, which reduced the bitterness, and some cream as well. I could easily drink this with or without milk or cream.

The bag has a sweet jasmine aroma, as does the tea, though without milk and sugar it tastes like straw, and rather bitter and astringent. I should say I am not a great fan of green tea, which often tastes like straw to me. Sweetener brings out the jasmine taste, and the addition of some milk reduces the bitterness, but doesn’t get rid of the straw taste entirely. The jasmine flavor is pleasant enough; I just can’t manage to like the green tea.

Tastes very similar to Twinings Darjeeling, but a little stronger, and somewhat less astringent. A sweet flowery taste as it touches the tongue, followed by a slightly bitter aftertaste, even with sugar added.

For me, the best Ceylon out there and I’m a loose leaf snob. I’m not quite sure why bergamot is mentioned in the tea description on Steepster, but I can tell you that there is NO bergamot in this tea. They save that for their English Afternoon. Caramel sweetness, nice bloom, mild astringency. I agree with the other taster that this is morning stuff. I don’t know why but it seems to be very high in caffeine.

Fleurdelily sent me a couple of these bags, and also some strawberry ones of the same brand. I’m mentioning those here as well because the packaging of these bags is amazingly attractive. All colourful and with large drawings of the fruits in question. The sort of packaging that says ‘you KNOW I will taste good, because I look so good!’ From the moment I took them out of the box, I was looking forward to trying them.

That happens very rarely for me when I see bagged tea!

I’m having the peach and passionfruit now, and I must say that peach is a funny thing for me. I like peaches to eat and peach-flavoured things in general, but have always avoided it in tea because it is very much a hit and miss flavour for me. I never know what I’ll get with peaches in tea, and there doesn’t seem to exist a middle of the road for me.

Apart from the packaging, I must admit I wasn’t expecting much from a bagged tea in the peach-flavour-liking department, but perhaps it’s the addition of the passionfruit that does it here, because this one is actually quite pleasant. (Could also depend on what sort of base is used, I guess)

I think it has passionflowers as well as passionfruit actually, because there is a fairly floral taste to it, which prevents the peach from getting that nearly cloying flavour that I dislike in peach tea. Ironic really, because I don’t normally care much for floral teas either.

This one tastes quite warm and autumn-y, which is a surprise because I always connect tropical flavours with summer, but there is a sort of spicy note in here which may be the floral aspect or something else entirely that just says autumn. It fits the current grey and wet weather rather nicely.

I’m pleased with this.

Ahmad tea is my favorite tea.

Airplane tea.