Yup look for the "CEYLON TEA Symbol of Quality" to be absolutely sure.
It can be absent but so strong it discourages attempted ripoffs.
Ahmad doesn't use the seal because of their name. You'll find lots of
Ceylon commercial brands to choose from. I'm partial to the larger
Arabic Ceylon 1/2k tins like Alwazah and Royal World (no seal)
compared to the smaller 100g Russian tins. For about $5 you can get
Alwazah 450g FBOP1 in a tin with the seal of approval. Ahmad,
Sadaf(no seal), Alghazaleen are mostly paper with occasional tins. I
got a fantastic 450g colorful Akbar Brothers Russian tin with a hinged
lid and snap hook. It is similar to their Alghazaleen tin. The
closest to Iranian Nemooneh is Turkish Caykur. I don't do comparisons
because the cup I'm drinking always seems to taste just fine. The
Caykur is bold the Nemooneh mellow. AFAIK any tea grown in the middle
east is pesticide free (? the Koran and something similar to Jewish
kosher).

Jim

Hamilcar Barca > wrote in message >.. .
> In article > (Sat, 31 Jul
> 2004 06:59:53 -0700), Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > There is a Ceylon trademark making it authentic. Otherwise just shipped
> > and packaged in Ceylon.
>
> Are you saying companies without the "seal of authenticity" are importing
> tea to Sri Lanka just to package and export?
>
> > But I did get my first Iranian tea called Nemooneh. It says Produced
> > and Packaged in Iran so I guess that means homegrown at the outrageous
> > price of $4.50/500g.
>
> But, is it good? I finally found one (1) local shop that carries Ceylon
> tea. It's Alwazah (Swan) brand and it's acceptable at $4.29/500g; it's
> not nearly as good as some other I've had at $5.99 but nobody here carries
> it.