Ahmad Tea: Earl Grey Tea

Last Sunday was one of the loveliest day's I've had all year. My best friend, Kirsty, came down to London to see me. We have been friends for over twenty years, but due to her living in Cheshire and I in London we only see each other a few times a year.

In recent years it's become somewhat of a tradition that I take the last week of November off work as holiday and on the Sunday Kirsty comes down to see me. We meet at the train station, have a cup of tea, walk down to Pizza Hut, where we eat, drink and are certainly merry!

On the way back to the station we always stop off at a fantastic gift shop. This little shop stocks loads of tea, especially tea by Ahmad Tea which is a company I've tried many years ago and have always admired. 

As readers know I can't resist buying something when so much gorgeous tea is laid out in front of me. However, after having a clear out of tea recently, knew  I didn't have much room for all the gorgeous tea filled caddies on sale. I was just about to not buy anything when my tea radar spotted this teeny, tiny little gem!

This mini-caddy, which stands barely two inches tall is filled to the brim with lovely Earl Grey tea. It features the famous London Routemaster bus. And the cost of this tiny find? Just £1.99.

Initially, I wasn't sure who made this tea and was naturally a bit dubious as to the quality inside, however the cuteness of the caddy is something I couldn't resist. So, I was very pleased indeed to see this came from Ahmad Tea.

Upon opening the caddy this tea smelt gorgeous. Nice and citrusy - that all too familiar flavour that you get with Earl Grey. And the tea is beautiful to look at. Lovely and dark in flavour, with small leaves. And surprisingly, you get a LOT of tea in such a tiny caddy.

You can see in the picture above, the generous amount of tea you get. I had already made two cups of tea from this when I took the photograph. Each cup had two generous, heaped teaspoons of tea, and as you can see it's barely touched the surface.

The ingredients in this tea are simple. Ceylon black tea and bergamot. It's pretty simple.

Simple the ingredients may be, the flavour though, is full bodied and simply gorgeous. I'd even go as far as to say that this is one of the finest and tastiest Earl Grey tea's I've tried.

The use of Ceylon tea is marvelous. And the Ceylon tea used in this blend is smooth, delicate, yet at the same time, has a very slight smokiness to it which makes it interesting and gives this tea a gentle afterbite. A nice kick that you don't tend to get with Earl Grey. It truly is a very, very good tea.

The bergamot flavour, which gives Earl Grey it's very famous citrus flavour is just perfect. It's natural and fruity, rather than being oily and synthetic as some bergamot based tea's can be. It's certainly flavoursome but not overpowering.It works hand in hand with the tea, so both flavours are very present but nor does one cancel the other out.

If you are looking for a Earl Grey that is nicely flavoured but isn't too strong then Ahmad Tea may of just produced the Earl Grey for you.

There is a nice smoothness to this tea, that element making it easy to drink. There is no bitterness or strange aftertaste with this tea either. It's just gorgeous.This would make a perfect tea for a afternoon tea. I am guilty of taking this tea from my Christmas mug, when in reality this is one tea that should be served in a pot, with fine bone china and tiny little cakes in a afternoon tea. This is ideal for serving to friends.

Aside from this lovely teeny caddy, Earl Grey is, of course, sold in more tradtitional forms, too. You can get it loose, bagged, in boxes, in caddies, decaffeinated even. So do check out their Earl Grey page.

And they even sell it in a beautiful musical caddy. Isn't this just about the prettiest caddy ever. And it play's a tune. Just so very pretty and I am seriously lusting after it! Now, that really would make my Christmas!