Alwazah Triple Traders Loose Tea Pure Ceylon 12.7 Ounce (oz) 360 Grams Pure Tea

I'm a tea drinker, and several years ago when I went to lunch with one of our department's International students (from Iraq) at a local Halal restaurant, we talked food. We walked through the adjacent Halal grocery store and she pointed at this box and said "That's my mother's favorite," so I bought a box to try. If it's the everyday tea for a regular tea drinker, chances are it is a good tea and it is a good value price-wise. I'm glad I tried it, as this is my everyday tea now.Though you wouldn't know it from buying bagged tea in American supermarkets, for much of the world tea is ranked according to place of origin, size and shape of the leaf, if its a tip or the body of the leaf, if it is broken or granular. The variety I like comes from Sri Lanka so this describes the tea grading for that part of the world. This particular variety I buy is the F.B.O.P.1, meaning it is a "Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe 1" - a good quality tea but not so fancy that it breaks the bank. The grade rankings are based upon whole leaves, broken leaves, fannings (small left-over pieces after the better teas are processed), and dust (you can guess what that is). Often, the smaller the particles the stronger and darker the tea, meaning it's like drinking the tea flavor through a fire hose - too much and too dark. According to the Ceylon Tea Store website, "Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Tea has short slightly wiry, less twisted broken leaf and consists of few silvery tips too. It quickly brews and has a rich aromatic scent and the liquor generally has a reddish color and a mellow flavory taste." Some of the teas from places like Turkey have to brew for a long time before the flavor is fully formed, which is why the "quickly brews" is meaningful.I like that the box is in at least two languages. One time I found myself in that same grocery store talking tea with a young man from the Middle East, and I noticed that as we talked about it and passed it back and forth between us, that each time the box was turned. I was talking with the English face forward, he was talking with the Arabic face forward. A box of tea for East and West.There you go, more information than you possibly needed about tea. A final note from Wikipedia--the highest of high grade teas with classifications such as FTGFOP1 have been jokingly referred to as "Far Too Good For Ordinary People."

Great tea, great flavor at a good price.

Good quality wizza tea. Making tea away from home made east

Perfect black tea taste, very bold!

This tea has a very delicate, seductive flavor. My sense of taste is unfortunately poor, so I have to use a teaspoon and a half per cup to taste it well, but it's well worth it. Nice hint of chocolate in the finish.

good & strong

I’ve become quite fond of pure Ceylon and think it often offers teas of impressive flavor and complexity at a good value. Alghazaleen tea is my staple but I have been meaning to try Alwazah for a while. It is a nice, smooth tea of moderate strength with some interesting differences. I enjoy it and would recommend it, but I ultimately found it less versatile, and less tasty than Alghazaleen.The leaf size is impressively large and, as a consequence, the tea infuses rather slowly. If you like your tea strong, I recommend being generous with your leaf amount and steep time. The aroma is primarily fruity notes, with a pleasant toasty quality and smokiness emerging when steeped longer.Although it brews a dark cup, the taste is rather mellow. I found that I vastly preferred this tea brewed stronger, as it was far more flavorful and complex. Even steeped as long as 10 minutes, it’s astringency is remarkably low. It takes milk well, revealing notes of wood and earthiness rather than the fruit and floral notes Im used to. While I don’t usually sweeten my Ceylon, I found that a little sugar actually suits this tea and made some of its flavors sing out a little more. In retrospect this isn’t surprising. Alwazah’s primary market is the Gulf Arab states; a region known for tea that is both strong and well sweetened. I suspect this would be a good tea to brew in the Arab style (boiling the leaves in sugared water) or to make Karak tea with.I like Alwazah but not as much as Alghazaleen tea, mainly due to flavor and versatility. One of the things I love about Alghazaleen is how varying steep time can make it feel like two different teas. Steeped for only a few minutes it is remarkably sweet, while longer steeps are rich and toasty. I like Alwazah brewed strong, but I find it rather dull with shorter steeps. I also had to use more leaf to get good flavor with Alwazah and paid a similar price for three fewer ounces of tea. That said, it is a good Tea and I would recommend it, especially to those who prefer their Ceylon a little on the mellow side.*Edit 29 Jan 22*Having almost finished this tea, I have to say it has really grown on me. I have found that this tea is at its best when brewed in a teapot with the leaves free, not constrained by a tea ball or strainer basket. I use two teapots to make this work and you might not be able to do that, but there is a noticeable difference in flavor when brewed that way. I appreciate its rich but mellow flavor much more now and particularly love the woody, grainy, earthy notes it displays when a splash of milk is added. I’ve also discovered that it makes fabulous cold brew iced tea. I’m leaving the rating at 4 stars due to the versatility issues noted above but I definitely recommend this tea and am considering adding it to my rotation.

I make iced tea with this all the time.It is my favorite! The very best black strong tea!