Prince Vladimir

Thanks to Sil for the sample!
Hmmm, I like this one. Kindof. Well, the first steep anyhow. True orange, nice and tart! with some cinnamon spice to balance it out. Yep, I could get used to this tea. As long as I don’t expect more than one cuppa, which is nice because I often feel guilty for not steeping again if I don’t get the chance.
Rating: 84

So, this morning I decided I was bored with the work tea stash, but didn’t have a lot of time to pick things out. However, I remembered that Sil had sent me some black teas, so I grabbed a handful of things and left! This was the result :)

I brewed this up not having the faintest idea what to expect. It looked like orange pieces in the tea, but I wasn’t all that sure. I didn’t manage to drink the tea hot (had more important things to do in other buildings), so it sat cooling on my desk for about six hours, and I’m just getting to it now.

I am having a very difficult time describing the flavour/aroma here. After reading the description, I can taste cinnamon and perhaps some citrus and vanilla as well, although they are very muted. It tastes much like Red Rose, but with some flavouring making it tasty enough to drink straight. I’m not sure what I would have thought about it if I hadn’t known what was in it though – I think “flavoured black”, perhaps with some spices, would have been the farthest I got. I’m just not good at articulating what I can taste!

Either way, it’s not bad (I drank it rather quickly just now), and not astringent/bitter, so I’d definitely drink it again. Not a tea I’d pick up for myself though – this combo of flavours is done better by DT in Glitter & Gold, IMO.

Thanks for this one, Sil!

I’m not sure about this one. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing. I guess it was pretty average, despite the fact this was probably the tea I was second most excited about in my sampler.

I did not get spices AT ALL, so it’s really weird to look through everyone else’s notes and see cinnamon and cloves. I wonder if they come out at a lower temperature, because I used boiling water. I’ve had zero problems using boiling water for all my Kusmi blacks. I’m basically steeping them like I do Darjeelings now that I think about it, boiling and 3 min.

Instead I got a very strong grapefruit flavor, just a little bergamot and lemon, and a creamy finish. It’s very subtle compared to some of their other teas.

I let it cool off entirely and it lost all its flavors really and was just a nice black tea. This one is odd.

Anastasia is still tops to me.

A big thank you to the quiet life for this sample!!

First sniff of leaves – cloves!! Ahhh! Reminds me of being 14 years old and going to all ages punk shows full of clove cigarette smoke. To this day, all I have to do is smell cloves and I’m instantly full of Anger and Too Much Eyeliner!!! I can’t keep up, I can’t keep up, I can’t keep up! Out of step! With the wooooooorld!!!! (ooops, it’s not 1983! step AWAY from the Minor Threat record (yes I still have it. yes I still listen to it. Shut up!!)

I steeped it at two minutes because I planned to have it with no milk and just a touch of sugar. That was a good call – it’s definitely a “without milk” tea. I’m getting cloves and caramel in a smooth tea base. I’m not tasting any citrus or any of the other flavors that are said to be blended in, which is ok by me :) I’m enjoying Clove Nostalgia Land. But! I think it can take 3 minutes, and I will try that next time.

I decided to do a resteep for the heck of it, at 5 minutes. Not bad! Less tea. Clove-y! Just added another small pinch of sugar.

Final thoughts: Great tea for work where I sometimes want a black tea but don’t want to worry about having milk around. I want to look into some more Kusmi teas for exactly this purpose! Very very very enjoyable!

The rating on this one doesn’t so much reflect the quality of the tea – because really it’s quite a nice tea – but rather my own personal tastes. I’m rarely in the mood for spicy teas (which is why I log chai so infrequently) and while this tea isn’t chai-level spicy, it has enough spice to it that I just really can’t see myself going out of my way to get this tea.

The leaves smell of lemon with a tingle of pink grapefruit, creamy vanilla and light spice. And that’s pretty much what it tastes like – creamy, fruity and a little spicy. It’s silky smooth but not as heavy as Troika. This could be because either I brewed Troika with hotter water or simply Troika is just a heavy, rich tea. Actually, I think part of it is the citrus used in this tea – it gives the taste profile a little bump into lighter, more refreshing territory and keeps it from feeling too heavy or rich. Perhaps if it were just vanilla and spice, this would be another rich, decadent tea.

I think those that like spice in their teas would really enjoy this. In fact, the husband, who is more partial to spice in tea, gave this an 81. But ultimately as tasty as the tea + fresh citrus + vanilla is, the tingle of spice at the end just makes me not love it.

Part 1 of a 5 part sampler I got from Kusmi (discovered at the Bi Rite Market in San Francisco). I was pretty excited to find these locally, however they do not carry the large size of the tins in the store, only teabags.

This tea is not for the faint of heart nor the faint of scent. If you hold the tins to your nose you can smell the scent very strongly! Open them up and get a whiff of perfume! yowza…

We picked this particular one to try this morning based on the recommendation of one of the store’s employees. It is a strong and smooth black tea but predominately all you taste here is the spices. Smells very much like root beer! It is such an interesting tea… I am tasting a lot of clove here in addition to citrus and bergamot. The bergamot is nice and subtle and does not provide the same amount of bergamot as an Earl Grey. I am getting a lot of citrus but perhaps not that much vanilla.

I did try steeping it twice, the second steep was weaker and with a lot less perfume and also the citrus flavors are coming though more here so I am not enjoying steep #2 quite as much.

Overall I quite liked this but I suspect I will like a few of the other ones better since I am not a huge fan of grapefruit in tea usually. I also enjoyed this little piece of history on the Kusmi tea company:
http://www.us.kusmitea.com/en/history/i111/information.html

Full review later today on http://sororiteasisters.com/
Here are snippets:

I received some of this Prince Vladimir from Kusmi Tea from a tea friend, and I am sorry that I do not recall who sent it to me, but thank you whoever you are. I have not sampled many teas from Kusmi so wanted to give this a try.

In some ways it reminds me of Constant Comment from Bigelow but it has more flavor, more kick, and more roundness to the blend. I think it is the vanilla that helps round it out.

Getting this as a sample, I am not disappointed at all, however had I paid the 27.95 tag for it I might be. Then again it is a 8.8 ounce tin, and well, I do love tins. I believe there is also a smaller tin, but they are out of stock on them at this time.

JacquelineM inspired me to try this one, which I think is the last of the Kusmi sampler that I haven’t tried yet.

This stuff smells awesome! It’s mildly spicy and very fruity, and it’s not even citrus-fruity, it smells much sweeter. I think that must be the vanilla. All together it smells, bizarrely, a bit like Dr Pepper. (Stop laughing, it does!) After steeping the Dr Pepper smell goes away and it’s mainly a mild spicyness and some fruity sweetness which has taken on a more citrus-y aspect.

Hey, this is really nice! It’s slightly spicy and clove-y just in the beginning but then when I swallow the citrus sort of gently comes out and spreads over my mouth. It’s almost a little tingly. I’m not sure where the vanilla is but I think it’s hiding behind the cloves and being a little shy.

This is not something that knocks me off my feet with wow-ness, but it’s definitely something that I could see myself reaching for again and again, and I believe this may end up in a tin purchase.

Now I’ll just have to try the St Petersburg again and get it right, but so far, I believe this one is my favourite of the five. It’s very nice.

The last couple of weeks have been rather hellish.
Hubby banned me to the house for today though.
He has been up since 1 this morning baling hay, and normally I would go out at dawn to start water on our farm fields.
But, I injured my shoulder and back this week so far.
But what hurts the most is the blisters on my feet, how can something so small be so plaguing?
I got up early anyway to catch up on laundry and dishes.
Sat down for a moment with a cup of tea and put the heating pad on my shoulder, and promptly fell asleep.
Awoke to a cold cup of tea, chugged that while I heat the kettle for this.
This is a sample from the lovely High Adventure
She was kind enough to send me lots of samples, which I have not had a chance to try.
This dry leaf smells fruity and a little spicy.
When I hurt, I always seem to reach to the teas with a bit of spice in them, apparently they are comforting to me.
This is only the third Kusmi tea I have ever tried.
Tea smells like a spicy earl grey.
But, the taste is a bit milder.
A bit of orange and bergamot on the tongue.
Not strong, not offensive and is almost a smidgen too polite.
I would be okay with more of a spice kick to this tea.
But, it is tasty and seems to be be comforting the soul and body.
What on earth would we do without tea?
I am certain I do not know.
Thank you, High Adventure!

Another tea from Amy oh! :3 This one smells ever so slightly like Teavana’s Spice of Life. I don’t know if I’m the only person, but I think that some of Kusmi’s teas sound eerily akin to each other. Either way, this one sounded interesting! I noticed that also similar to Spice of Life, someone has commented about it smelling like coca cola. I get a small hint of that.
The dry leaf has a very distinct vanilla smell; where as the liquor reminds me of the Kusmi cinnamon.
This is pretty tasty! I do have to admit that mine ended up tasting very much like the cinnamon tea. There are some elements of light citrus in there, but not as heavily as the aforementioned Spice of Life. This does have a hit of lemon at the front of the sip that is quite nice. I really actually like lemon flavored blacks for some strange reason. I’m going to have to try steeping this at a slightly lower temperature next time because I lost out on a lot of the vanilla that is in the dry leaf smell. I really wanted some more of that to come through.
Overall I find this to be a comforting and wakeful cup.
P.s. am I the only person who automatically thinks “Putin” after hearing Vladimir???

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping tsp
Water: 500ml filtered 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot
This does not follow the website’s recommendation of 185°F-195°F for 3-4 min

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vanilla, lemon, citrus, black tea
Steeped Tea Smell: vanilla
Flavor: spiced vanilla black tea, a little astringent and bitter
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter, astringent, lemon
Liquor: translucent dark orange-brown

I bought this when I visited the Kusmi store in NYC, it’s a tiny tin part of the Russian sampler.

It could be my preparation method but i don’t like the bitterness and astringency, but the mix of vanilla and spices and citrus is interesting and has potential if I play with adding sugar and cream.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/09/kusmi-tea-loose-leaf-black-tea-prince.html

More like Prince Valium, to me. It’s just a little bit of a boring tea. It’s not amazing or magnificent or anything. It’s far from horrible; it’s extremely drinkable, but there just isn’t any magic happening in my mouth. There’s a bit of orange, and that’s about it. I had mine with milk and sugar, as I do pretty much with all of my black, pu erh and darker oolong teas. I thank indigobloom for sending this sample to me. I do like orange and black tea combos, so good guess. I bet the tea would be nice as a cold brewed as an iced tea.

Thanks to both Sil and Shmiracles for sending me some of this! I’ve been waiting so long to try it out!

The initial scent is a nice strong black. These black Kusmi teas can really wake you up in the morning. I think I’m getting a hint of vanilla and citrus in there, but it’s delicious so whatever is in there is working!

Kusmi has yet to let me down. Excellent start to a Sunday :)

good bye prince vlad. i’ll probably buy you again someday.
maybe even in person when i go to Paris in a few months.
until then, i’ll think of you every time i re-use your tin.

In the sample tin, there’s a strong spicy smell to the dry leaves which are dark with bits of what looks like citrus peel among them. This says it has three kinds of citrus in it, lemon, bergamot and grapefruit, but I am not smelling any of those. Instead I smell the spices, clove in the lead by a wide margin.

It mellows some after steeping but there’s still a good bit of clove, a vanilla note, and a bit of citrus. It’s a dark reddish amber.

The minute I took a sip, I knew I’d tasted something similar before. And then it hit me. This is v. much like Constant Comment in terms of its spice profile. It isn’t as orangey, but that’s what it reminds me of. The main difference is that in the Prince V., it’s a more subtle flavor and the tea shines through.

It’s quite nice for when you’re feeling that such a flavor profile would hit the spot, but you’re not in the mood for heavy spice. The tea base is smooth and tasty, and the spice is just enough to flavor the tea without masking it in any sense of the world.

I like.

First time tasting a Kusmi tea – and a good friend gifted me with a pot’s worth of Prince Vladdy. First impression on the dry leaf. DEFINITELY Coca Cola fragrance! Brought water to a rolling boil. Steeped a strong amount for five minutes. Added a bit of half and half with some sugar. Result? Creamy, sweet, hot coca cola! It is delightful actually, and I’m wishing I had a Russian tea set to go along with this tea. It’s on the lighter side, so a great afternoon tea. It’s really hard for me to taste the actual tea through the flavoring which I miss. This tea would go beautifully with some almond cookies or slightly sweetened butter biscuits. I wouldn’t recommend having with food. Having so many flavored teas at home, this is one I wouldn’t buy to have on hand. Grateful for the share though! :)

This is a really interesting tea. The smell when we first opened the tin was intense and lingered well after the lid had been closed. Citrus, cinnamon and the cloves all blended together. Once I steeped it, the cinnamon and cloves became the dominant scent. Really enjoyed the tea hot..but as it cooled off the citrus notes became more dominant leading to a strange blend of flavours. Would love to see how this tastes with milk added to it.

To my delight, there’s a specialty foods store in Harvard Square that carries Kusmi Tea. Not knowing what to try first, I picked up a box of their “essentials” that has two bags each of twelve of their (I assume) most popular teas. For some reason I was expecting normal-ish bags, so I was pleasantly surprised by the individually-sealed muslin sachets! Now, on to the tea :)

… delicious! Perfectly delicious, hot and plain. I always appreciate black teas smooth enough to easily drink plaint. Sweet and fruity and aromatic – citrus and vanilla, as described, but a very soft citrus. A like lemon coffee cake? I expect to get a second steep out of it, but haven’t yet. I’ll probably try with milk next time, but don’t want to mess with it at the moment – this is just tasty.

I’ll have to try the rest of the sampler first, but this could easily be one to buy a tin of!

I’m finding the flavour combinations in Kusmi teas really fascinating, and this one was no exception. Grapefruit, spice, vanilla?

I made this this morning while getting ready for work. It smelled great but to my disappointment wasn’t really doing it for me. It seemed too overpowering and like it should be saved for a cold winter’s night. My stomach was a little unsettled at the time, but I didn’t expect a reaction like that.

I’d made extra to take to work in my travel mug. I started sipping an hour or two later at work, when it had largely cooled down so it was more just kind of warm. And I really liked it! The spiciness was certainly front and centre but the vanilla and citrus danced around in the background. Very smooth, nicely sweet thanks to the vanilla. I’m not sure how I managed to get two very different impressions from the same infusion, but I’m capable of amazing things.

The second of my Kusmi splurge. :)

The first time I smelled this, I definitely got a sense of the citrus, and vanilla, and spices (the clove comes out strongly). But then I had a revelation: This tea smells like Coca-Cola! So now all I smell is Coke. :P

Brewed, it smells more like black tea with clove. Mmmm.

It kind of tastes like Coke, too, but spicier (not overly spicy, though). It’s smooth and warm. Mmm. It has a little bit of sweetness to it too, but it’s not anything overpowering. It’s not overly anything, and the flavors just work really well together. I like! :)

Since my St. Petersburg turned out a bit strong this morning with a steep time of 3 mins, I thought I’d try this at 2 to see how that would be, and it works! Yay!