Ahmad Tea Limited Edition?

Terve, Saku -

My understanding is that Ahmad is an Iranian-owned England-based company that became very popular in Russia for their "English Tea" marketing style. I am very familiar with Russian tea markets and Russian tea world (I lived first half of my life in the city that long ago was called Landskrona :) and can tell you that discussions about Ahmad pop up occasioanally all over Russian tea forums. The question is the same - who the hell are they if they only sell in Russia? My answer - if you like the tea, who cares about the rest?

BTW, finnish company Forsman Tea is also very popular in Russia (excellent quality, albeit mostly aromatized teas, but they have the real stuff too) and virtually unknown everywhere else in the world. Their international site is always broken,

But their Russian site is very informative.

Sasha.

Ahmad is a London based company but I'm not sure who owns it. I know they primarily market to Arabic countries. It is just in last couple of years that Russian appears on opposite side of box to Arabic. Have you heard of Akbar from Ceylon? They market to Arabic countries and Russia but their tins are English with Russian with raised lettering for the word Akbar. It is one of the neatest tin cannisters around with hinged lids and big at 450g. I know both are readily available over the Internet but I get mine at Arabic stores.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

I get Akbar Ceylon pekoe at Russian stores in San Francisco. Very good black tea at unbelievable price (last buy was huge half a kilo canister blue label for $5.95 What is your opinion on their red label?

Sasha.

I need to back up. Akbar is the Russian/English label and Alghazaleen is the Arabic/English label with both names in raised lettering of the specific language. In this case they are both the same red (garnet) label tins with different red motif. The Russian version is stronger and smaller grade. The Arabic is milder and larger grade. I've always said the Arabic labels have the market cornered on the the best Ceylon teas. I haven't seen the blue label or the others at

I've been looking forever for the Akbar Silver. The best Ceylon tea I've ever tasted is a brand called Royal World which has disappeared from the local Arabic shelves. Six bucks is also what I am paying here for half kilo in a decorator tin with great tea. I like the Akbar Ceylon more than the Ahmad Ceylon but that is just me, blends are blends.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

I'll take a look at Akbar Silver next time I am in SF for you.

Sasha.

Alex Chaihorsky kirjoitti:

Hello Alex,

Yes I know Forsman Tea. There are two blenders of teas in Finland: Forsman and Nordqvist. I have seen some of the Forsman tea packs that have their labels printed in Russian Cyrillic letters so I guess they were meant for export but somehow happened to be sold locally.

Forsman Lapsang Souchong is quite nice, IMHO :-)

I don't know who owns Ahmad Tea Co. Ltd and, frankly speaking, do not care as long as it tastes good. Ahmad has quite a nice home page in English about their blends. They have a site in Finnish as well (operated by the local Finnish importer) which is also informative enough for me.

I had a previous bad experience with Ahmad's Earl Grey. It had a strange soapy taste. I returned the opened 250 gram box to my retailer. They apologized for the bad taste and gave me 10 euros worth of their products free of charge.

Let me know if you find anything. I wouldn't mind collecting the series of tea tins with the tea. I could go poking around on the Internet but the tea will taste better when discovered by happenchance. It was in the cards to restock honey from an Arabic store. One is a particular favorite from Bulgaria. I like burnt toast with honey with my tea in the morning. I always come back with a tray of Baklava. I'll enjoy a piece or two with Puer before bedtime. Baklava is still expensive in the Arabic stores. I noticed the price of 500g Alghazaleen in paper packaging was $4. So the tin costs $2.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

...snip beetles...