Need Help?
How much does shipping within the US cost?
There is a flat rate of $6 for shipping across the mainland US. All customers receive free shipping on Mainland US orders over $50. Standard delivery to Alaska or Hawaii is available for an additional $10. For heavy orders, shipments to Alaska and Hawaii may require an overweight surcharge in addition to the $10 surcharge. We will contact you prior to shipping if additional surcharges are required.
I am not based in the US. Do you ship internationally?
We currently ship only to the US. All orders for countries other than the US may be placed on our global website at www.ahmadtea.com. If you are in Canada, please visit our partner www.specialtygoodies.ca to purchase Ahmad Tea products.
Do you ship to Canada?
We currently ship only to US addresses. If you are in Canada, please visit our partner www.specialtygoodies.ca to purchase Ahmad Tea products.
I’m so excited for my tea! How long should I expect to wait for my delivery?
Most mainland US orders will arrive between 3-7 business days after the order is processed.
How do I track my shipment?
When your order is complete, we will send you a confirmation email that includes your individual tracking number. Please visit the ground parcel delivery service website and enter the tracking number to monitor your shipment.
If I change my mind, may I return an item I bought online?
Yes, we apologize if your order did not meet your expectations. Please contact us at 1-800-637-7704 or email us at info@ahmadteausa.com within 30 days of receiving your order and we will resolve the issue.
Can I cancel my order after my package has shipped?
You may cancel your order within 30 days; however, shipping charges will be deducted from refund.
I love samples, how do I get my free samples?
Free samples are automatically added to each order.
Do your tea bags contain plastic?
All of our tea bags with a string, which includes our 20-count and 100-count boxes, are made of 100% natural fibers. These tea bags contain no plastic and are fully home compostable. We are currently exploring exciting alternatives based on renewable resources and we plan to share these plans with you soon.
Where do your teas come from?
All tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant. A tea estate will typically have thousands of these evergreen bushes under cultivation. Tea is grown commercially in Asia, Africa and South America. Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon), Kenya, China and India are the 4 largest tea producing countries and together they represent 80% of world production. Other, less well-known, countries where tea is grown are Indonesia, Uganda, Argentina, Turkey, Japan, to name just a few. Production quantities will dramatically vary between the different origins. Production quality will also differ between the different origins as does the types of tea produced. Only the finest, freshest and most flavourful tea leaves are selected by our expert tea tasters/buyers to ensure that every single cup of tea bearing the Ahmad Tea name matches the high expectations of our customers.
What is the difference between green tea and black tea?
To begin with, nothing at all; both come from the same plant known as Camellia Sinensis. However, it is how the tea leaf is then processed that creates the difference. Black teas are teas that have been fully (or almost fully) oxidized. The oxidation process takes place after the rolling process and lasts for two-four hours before being dried by hot air. During the oxidation (or fermentation) process, the tea is allowed to react with oxygen in the air, and it turns from green to brown. The chemical changes which take place within the leaf during the oxidation process will produce a stronger brew with more flavor. Unlike black tea, green tea is un-oxidized. Japanese green teas are typically steamed. Chinese-style green teas are typically processed with dried heat using an oven-like rotating drum or a large, open cooking vessel similar to a wok. Whichever process is applied, the oxidization of the leaf is prevented by the high temperature.
Which of your teas contain caffeine?
Black and green tea is produced from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, which contains caffeine. Fruit and herbal infusions, commonly referred to as “herbal teas” are naturally caffeine-free. Although herbal teas are packed and brewed in a similar way to tea, it is not really tea. It consists of botanicals like fruits, flowers, barks, herbs, mints, spices, roots, berries and seeds.
How much caffeine is in black and green teas?
Black and green teas are produced from the same plant Camellia Sinensis so both green and black teas naturally contain caffeine. The caffeine content will vary from bush to bush, but the average is estimated to be 35-70mg per cup. According to the UK Tea & Infusions Association, tea contains about half as much caffeine as instant coffee and a third of filter coffee.
Which of your teas are decaffeinated?
The decaffeinated teas in our product range are Decaffeinated Evening teabag and Decaffeinated Earl Grey teabag.
How are Ahmad Tea's decaf blends decaffeinated?
Ahmad Tea's decaf products are decaffeinated using the carbon dioxide gas method, which is the safest method. This is the same carbon dioxide gas we breathe in with every breath we take. When carbon dioxide gas is compressed into tea leaves, it absorbs the caffeine that is in the leaves. Then the carbon dioxide is filtered out using an everyday carbon filter. Because carbon dioxide is a gas, it leaves no residue.
What are Ahmad Tea teabags made of?
Our teabags are made of abaca fibres (also known as Manila hemp).
Are Ahmad Tea teabags bleached?
Bleaching paper with elemental chlorine causes harmful emissions in the aquatic environment. That is why we choose to use filtration papers that are Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) as a minimum standard. This means our teabag papers are treated without elementary chlorine and are produced in line with the ISO 14001 environmental management system.
Are Ahmad Tea teabags compostable?
All of our tagged teabags (those that have a string and tag), are compostable. Tagless tea bags, such as those in our 50-count packaging or in our Primetime range, are only compostable through industrial compostable methods.
Do your teas include artificial flavorings or sweeteners?
Ahmad Tea flavorings contain no artificial sweeteners. Depending on the flavor, the composition may either be natural or artificial. Our herbal infusions are 100% all-natural. We try to use natural ingredients wherever possible. However, some natural ingredients simply do not supply a strong enough flavor except in large doses. Hence there is no practical way to use natural flavoring within our products, which consist almost entirely of natural tea. All our flavored teas are perfectly safe to consume and meet all EU and US legal requirements. Also, we make sure that they contain none of the major allergens listed by the EU or the USA.
Do Ahmad Teas contain any allergens?
Ahmad Tea implements a ‘no allergens’ policy. By this we mean that Ahmad Tea products will not contain any of the major allergens listed by the European Union and the USA. These include the following: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery (including celeriac), mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide/sulphites, lupin, and molluscs.
Do any of your products contain gluten or dairy products?
All of Ahmad Tea’s products are free of dairy or gluten containing ingredients. Furthermore, the ingredients used in Ahmad Tea’s products are not exposed to gluten or dairy products at any time during the production stage.
Are Ahmad Teas kosher certified?
Yes, all Ahmad Teas sold in the USA are kosher certified under KF.
Are Ahmad Teas halal certified?
Yes, all of our teas have been granted halal certified by SANHA.
Are Ahmad Teas Non-GMO?
Yes, Ahmad Teas are free of GMOs.
Are Ahmad Teas organic?
Our teas are not organic. We have had many internal discussions about organic teas and one of our challenges is finding organic tea plantations that can provide the great taste that our customers have come to enjoy and expect from Ahmad Tea. That being said, in order to ensure that we do not compromise on the quality and food safety of our teas, we continually test to ensure that any pesticide residue is far below the levels which the EU and US have determined as safe.
Why aren't Ahmad Teas organic?
At Ahmad Tea we're frequently asked why we don't sell organic tea. It's an important question and one we take seriously, so we wanted to explain our position and reassure you about our commitment to offering the highest quality teas.
First, let's look at what 'organic' actually means. Organic agriculture is a system of farming that avoids man-made fertilizers and pesticides. Instead, organics favors traditional techniques like crop rotation, hand-weeding, biological pest control and animal manures. Precise rules differ from country to country, but to be sold as organic, products have to be made, grown, reared and sold according to the rules of a certification body. In the United Kingdom, for instance, there are a number of these, the largest being the Soil Association. Within the European Union – the world's largest organic marketplace and the first to enact government legislation for organic production and marketing – organics is controlled by a strict set of guidelines. It allows two categories of organic products across all of its 27 countries: one for products containing at least 95% organic ingredients, and one for products containing 70 - 95% organic ingredients. In America, where organic standards are controlled by the USDA, they have the National Organic Program. NOP requires all organic products to be certified by an independent, approved agency. The USDA allows four categories of organic products, each marked by its own official label. Products can either be 100% organic, 95% or more organic, 70% to 95% organic, and less than 70% organic.
Essentially, organic agriculture can be seen as a response to modern industrial farming, a reaction to the petrochemical industry's influence on growing crops and rearing animals in the post-war period. But while organic farming harks back to traditional techniques, it's a relatively new system, with most organic certification starting in the early 1990s. Many organic farms have only been established, or converted to organic, within the last 30 years. With tea production, however, definitive organic classification isn't so straightforward. For a start, at Ahmad Tea we source teas from India, Africa, Sri Lanka and southern China. Each of these countries has its own definition of what organic agriculture is. These definitions are less clearly defined than the ones we know in the West, so certification becomes a lot more complex. Furthermore, tea agriculture itself has developed its own classification and quality control practices over hundreds of years. Trying to overlay modern systems onto this can be a frustrating practice, for both the grower and the buyer. This isn't to say there aren't good organic teas out there. We’ve sampled many throughout the years. But we're yet to find a reliable source that satisfies our criteria for consistency in quality as well as the volume we require to satisfy our global reach.
Another problem is that organic doesn't always equate to quality. We've sampled many organic teas from farms that fulfill all the criteria of organic production and certification, yet they don't deliver good flavor in the cup. You end up paying a premium for an inferior product, which isn't the Ahmad Tea way. As a global tea company, we have a wide and diverse customer base with an even wider range of tastes. From Britain to Bahrain, Botswana to Bhutan, the biggest priority for Ahmad Tea is delivering every one of our customers affordable, great tasting tea in every cup. When it comes to organics, we just haven't been able to find a supplier that lets us make the switch while maintaining our customer promise of great taste.
While there are benefits to organically grown teas, we don't want to imply that there is anything inferior about the tea we supply here at Ahmad Tea. Far from it. For almost forty years we've built close relationships with some of the best tea suppliers in the world, working with them in every aspect. From the tea gardens to the processing houses to the packing stations and the blending, our partners and suppliers know exactly the quality we demand, and go out of their way to deliver it. What's more, many of the gardens and estates that supply our tea are very traditional, even old-fashioned affairs – a world away from the modern 'industrial farms' that consumers who seek out organic might envisage. At these tea estates, which are often fairly remote and located high in the hilly regions, the majority of the agricultural work is carried out by hand. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides aren't a big concern, because they simply aren't used. But we appreciate many customers have concerns about potential chemical residues on teas these days. So as well as relying on the integrity of our partners to uphold our standards through production and processing, we also have the safety net of the European Union's strict tea production guidelines. The EU's rigorous testing is an excellent barrier against any potentially harmful chemical residues making it through to our products. Indeed, in our experience we find the EU's extensive list of disallowed pesticides and fertilizers (in all but the merest trace) pretty much precludes their use.
We hope this explanation answers any questions you might have about Ahmad Tea's position on organics. Rest assured that we will continue to put quality at the heart of everything we do, and will continue to assess organically produced teas and consider them for our blends. We believe that as some of the newer organic tea farms mature, so the quality and consistency of their product will get better. Once we find a reliable source of organic tea that meets the Ahmad Tea standards, we will offer it to our customers.
Are any of your teas Fair Trade?
The best quality teas are not necessarily Fair Trade. Ahmad Tea is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership and is working towards achieving 100% Rainforest accreditation for our 20-count foil-enveloped English Breakfast, English Tea No.1 and Earl Grey teabags. Ahmad Tea has historically maintained a very close relationship with our suppliers, and our tea buyers make regular visits to the tea estates. We pay a premium price for our teas and source from producers with the best production facilities and hygiene standards.
Do Ahmad Tea Fruit Teas contain carbohydrates?
The fruit teas we offer do contain a very small amount of carbohydrates. You have to drink about 80 cups of our fruit tea to equal the amount of carbohydrates in a single apple or a single slice of bread. If that is still of concern to you, then our unflavored teas and herbal teas contain no carbohydrates.
Do Ahmad Tea teabags contain epichlorohydrin?
No, our teabags do not contain epichlorohydrin.
What is the best way to store tea?
Tea will gradually lose its freshness over time. We advise that the best way to store tea is to keep it inside an airtight container in a cool, dark and dry place in order to retain the best flavor possible. Furthermore, keep the tea away from moisture and highly aromatic products such as spices, herbs and coffee.
How long does tea stay fresh?
Unlike dry herbs or spices, tea does not ‘go off’ but will lose its flavor and taste stale after a while. If you store tea inside an airtight container in a cool, dark and dry place, the tea is suitable to be drunk for a few years. However, to experience peak freshness we recommend you to drink the tea within four months from the time you first open the package.
What are my payment options?
We accept Visa and MasterCard.
How do I use a promo code when ordering?
Enter the code in the provided box at the time of checkout. The discount will be directly applied to the final receipt. Only one discount code is permitted per individual order.
I'm trying to use the promo code but it says it's invalid. Why?
In order for a promotion code to be valid, it must meet both the date and the product requirements. Please double-check the code is not expired and is valid for the products in your tea basket. If you're still having issues, please reach out to customer support at info@ahmadteausa.com
I can’t log into my account and I am desperate for tea. What do I do?
Here are some potential solutions: 1) Verify that you are typing in the email and password registered to the account. 2) Avoid copying and pasting your email and password into the prompt boxes. Sometimes this adds an extra unseen “space” which causes the system to reject the password. 3) If you cannot remember your password, please select “FORGOT PASSWORD” on the log in page. An email will be sent to your registered account inviting you to reset your password. 4) If you still cannot log into your account, please contact us at info@ahmadteausa.com and we’ll investigate.
How do I reach customer service?
Please call us at 1-800-637-7704. We are available 9am – 4pm Central Time. You may also email us at info@ahmadteausa.com.
How do I subscribe to Ahmad Tea’s newsletter?
We’re so happy you decided to join us. Our e-newsletter includes the latest updates across the Ahmad Tea range, sales, special offers and much more. To receive the latest updates from Ahmad Tea, scroll to the bottom of the website and type your email address in the provided box.
How do I unsubscribe from Ahmad Tea’s newsletter?
We are sorry to see you go. To unsubscribe, click the “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the newsletter.
I want to stock Ahmad Tea in my store, who do I talk to?
Please reach out to us at info@ahmadteausa.com. We'll gladly send a catalog and distributor information.
WARNING: Consuming this product can potentially expose you to chemicals including lead, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to: www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food