Ahmad Tea

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.

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #5

When Shae asked me if there were any teas in her cupboard that I wanted to try, I must have really been craving apple teas because I ended up asking for A LOT of apple blends; apple cinnamon and apple ginger in particular…

I’m glad she added this one in though – it’s a tea bag and without having the chance to sample in this type of format, it’s a tea that I would have likely passed up/ignored. However, I thought the flavour was really nice this afternoon and of the five teas I’ve tried from the box so far it was actually my favourite!

Simple in execution – this is basically a medium to full bodied and slightly astringent black tea coupled with a consistent sweet green apple flavour and a hint of something floral to the undertone. It’s rare to get a green apple tea without any tartness/sourness, but that’s what this tastes like to me and I really appreciated it!

Smells like pinesol tastes like limeaid. Don’t really taste the black tea, but I know it’s there as I see the bag expand in size. At least its not bitter, and I think this would actually be a good candidate for grampa style brewing. Maybe throw in a bag of ginger(which typically disappoints as a solo cup). I am always looking for bags that taste good as they travel much easier than loose leaf, but I’m not sure I’d purchase this again. I’ll experiment with iced tea, but as hot tea the lime taste seems decent up front, then lingers into meh as a chemical afterthought. A small dollop of honey makes it a little less aftertasty and more limey.
It’s nice that there’s a best before date on the box as I’m not sure I’ll be drinking this all that fast.

So, I picked this up because I had a new gaiwan come in but in the process of washing it to clean from shipment I slipped with the lid and it shattered on the kitchen tile floor…

Deep breath. One bag of this left. Old highly rated review from years ago.

And we brew.

Would you believe me if I said this tea tastes of spearmint? Well, you’ll just have to take my word for it. It reminds me of a spearmint tea my mom used to make growing up. Pairs with a nice biscuit though I’m having Asian food so it’s not a perfect marriage of flavors.

After branching out with better teas, I’ve appended my previous rating to bring this in line. Still, you get what you bargain for with this blend. It’s far better than peppermint tea to my palette, and there’s actual tea flavor behind it too. It’s probably good iced.

This is the last bag in my stock, I will not be actively seeking it out but I’m also fine it if happens to end up in my possession again. I do feel better about my clumsiness, maybe the tea helped.

I do not like mint teas, but this may be the blend that convinces me otherwise.

Usually I find that mint teas have little flavor and no real body, especially when they are considered a herbal infusion. No one should want that kind of mint water, it would be like drinking bland tea with a mouthful of toothpaste. Yuck!

Then this blend comes along. A pleasant and light spearmint nose, like smelling some Wrigley’s Doublemint gum fresh out of the wrapper. There is just enough body and bite on the finish to remind you it is a green tea with mint flavor.

A refreshing blend, that would probably do pretty well iced. So far the best bagged mint tea I have tried.

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!