- Inspiring tea lovers around the world with artistry, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to supporting people and the planet is why Ahmad Tea has been a global leader in speciality tea gifts for 35 years
With the Christmas gifting season upon us, demand for speciality tea is set to soar. But in the world of tea, not all gifts are created equal.
Ahmad Tea, the world’s largest family owned independent tea company, which celebrates its 35 year anniversary this year, is on a mission to inspire tea drinkers around the world with its passion for tea, its dedication to artistry, and its fundamental commitment to producing tea for the greater good.
Putting the ‘good’ into tea gifts
Ahmad Tea is more than just a fine tea brand, it’s a business that strives to give back with every tea they sell.
Supporting communities is one way they do this - spreading kindness to people around the world who need it most, from supporting frontline hospital staff in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, to improving clean water provision and sustainability in Niger.
Responsible Sourcing is also key. As a proud member of the Ethical Tea Partnership (a global movement to promote ethical business activity in the tea trade) Ahmad Tea is working to improve the incomes and wellbeing of tea farmers, establish better living conditions and nutrition for workers and farmers, and create opportunities for women and young people in tea communities.
Tea artistry: the gift of a great cup
The perfect cup of tea isn’t created without a lot of hard work; tea artistry takes time and dedication. Ahmad Tea has some of the world’s best Tea Tasters on their team who sample up to 500 cups each day to ensure the blends are of the highest quality and the taste is consistent.
Tea Tasters consider the compatibility of different teas with one another, like an artist creating colour. They travel all over the world to the best tea estates and retain a taste memory so they can review many variations of the same tea type from different estates.
Senior Tea Taster, William Manning, describes the work that goes into creating the perfect cup: “I believe that tea blending is an art. It’s constant trial and error. Sometimes you can select the two best tasting teas and when you put them together, they clash. But when you create the perfect blend there’s no other way to describe it other than euphoria! To be an artist takes a huge amount of passion and determination to achieve something at the highest level.”
Beyond The Leaf
New for Christmas 2021 is Beyond The Leaf: a new luxury tea gift collection from Ahmad Tea & Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Launching Christmas 2021, Beyond The Leaf is an exciting new collaboration between two iconic British brands, balancing Ahmad Tea’s four generations of tea knowledge with the natural beauty and heritage of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The stunning new luxury tea collection sees the prestigious English heritage brand come together with some of the world’s most beautifully blended teas to create a gift collection that is refined, elegant, and quintessentially British.
Featuring four classic blends – Majestic Breakfast, Splendid, Ceylon, Garden Afternoon and Elegant Earl Grey - the collection is the perfect balance of quality and elegance, for a smooth, delicious brew at any time of the day.
Milestone Moments: 35 years of speciality tea gifts
1986: Ahmad Tea is born, based in a small office above the ‘Kabir Tea Shop’ on Southampton’s London Road.
1987: Ahmad Tea’s first loose tea blend goes on sale, targeted at the luxury gifting market, with products stocked in local retailers in the South of England and London.
2003: A milestone moment as Ahmad Tea takes on the majority share of the tea gift market in the UK and is available in 68 countries worldwide.
2010: Ahmad Tea’s new HQ opens in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, hosting a dedicated tasting room and a carefully curated tea museum.
2021: Innovation in product blends, coupled with a commitment to the highest quality standards, means Ahmad Tea gifts are now sold in more than 80 countries around the world.
