Ahmad Tea Gunpowder Supreme Review

Today I brewed a cup of Ahmad Tea's gunpowder green tea, the Gunpowder Supreme. I'm usually not a huge fan of green tea, but I've been brewing my husband a cup before work every morning and figured it was about time I give it a real try, and an honest review.

The product description on Ahmad Tea's website describes it as tea leaves that have been steamed, pan-dried and tightly rolled into green pearls. The rolled leaves explode as they steep, creating a clear, amber-colored brew. The leaves are sourced in China's Golden Triangle, between the Jiangxi / Anhui / Zhejiang province.

You can click on the image below to see the product page:

Photo from ahmadteausa.com

Since I'm not a big bitterness person when it comes to tea, I tried to keep my brewing temperature pretty low, around 170 degrees when the recommended temp was 175-190F. My ratio was about 8 oz of water to a heaping teaspoonful of dry tea leaves. The recommended brewing time for the gunpowder green is 4-6 minutes, but since I'd made it for my husband before I knew that would result in just a bit too much bitterness for my taste, so I brewed it somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes.

A close up of the tea leaves.This photo is blown up a bit. In real life the little tea bullets are tiny!

After brewing, my tea leaves were fluffy and delicate. Gunpowder tea is so fun, and it always feels like a great surprise to find the leaves so big when they go into the water in such a compact, rolled form.

Their color also really came out with the brewing. Fresh and green, and without too much variation in color. They had a warm, vegetal aroma.

The gunpowder green tea leaves after "exploding" and expanding in the brew.

Happily the brew was a lovely amber color as promised, notwithstanding my short steeping time.

I have to admit that while green tea isn't my go-to flavorwise, I do really enjoy its gentle, grassy aroma. I find that most teas are pleasant enough in the aroma department, if they aren't my favorite to actually drink.

Now for the big reveal: I really enjoyed this tea! I think I found just the right brewing method to cut down on that bitterness while still getting a good flavor. I did see a review of this tea that mentioned it's a flavorful enough tea to be enjoyable even when watered down, and I must say I think they're right. Even with a low temp and short steeping time, the fresh, warm, grassy flavor was there. I always compare the taste of green tea to freshly boiled artichokes, and this is no exception. There's something about the rich vegetal meatiness of green tea that's uniquely satisfying to drink.

My gunpowder green tea, ready to drink.

My takeaway was good with this tea. High-quality leaves, round flavor, and a good gunpowder performance! I do wish it had produced a clearer brew, as I noticed just a bit of cloudiness and powdery tea that got through my strainer, but overall it was a very respectable version of a gunpowder green tea that I'd recommend trying. Next time I'll experiment with adding honey or even a little milk to see how that turns out.

~Evelyn

Evelyn Boyer

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~Evelyn

All content on this blog is the property of Always Time for Tea and is protected by international copyright laws. The content is intended for personal, non-commercial use only. Any unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution is strictly prohibited.

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