Prince Vladimir

The color of the tea is so dark orange that its almost brown.

It smells of fruit, citrus, vanilla, carmell, candy and spice like… pepper?
It taste sweet and spicey.
It had a weird aftertaste though – smookey and salty.
Weird because the smell indicate something else intirely.

…A very smooth tea. Does it ever get bitter?
Was a little suprised about the taste. I had a feeling that if I stripped this tea of all the aromas, I would end up with a tea that tasted like St. Petersburg. And if I stripped the tea from the blend itself, I would wind up with a chai tea and a bublegum.

Intrigued.

When making this, a small amount of tea and short steeping time gives the best result.
That is – if you prefer a sweet tea. If you like all the smookey spicey part, be generous ;)

I got a sample of this from Courtney yesterday, and I decided to give it a try this afternoon. It’s quite good, the flavoring seems very subtle… which I appreciate, because too often black teas get so heavy. Thanks, Courtney! I am looking forward to sampling more from Kusmi, this was very yummy.

The second sample.

I’m not going to lie, but dried it smelt a bit like liquorish, and brewed it smells a bit like root beer.

Sipping… I’m not getting much of a taste other than from the tea. Getting a bit of sweetness, but nothing specific like vanilla. Seriously though, root beer smell.

I love this one… def one of my top Kusmi teas in my collection, though I love most of my Kusmi collection equally, they all have their own unique flavour and personality. Vladimir is very similar to Anastasia and St. Petersburg, almost like a middle ground between the two. It has the subtle embrace of flavour and and the soothing qualities of Anastasia.

Received this tea as part of the Kusmi’s “Russian Sampler”. The citrus, vanilla and other flavors are muted in this one and no one flavor jumps out at me. Too muted, in fact, that I am just not crazy about this one. There is some spicy essence coming through, but I am having trouble making out what it is. Definitely not getting the “citrus” part of it…. Funny thing about Kusmi teas – either I am jumping for joy or just blah. This one would fall under the just blah category.

This tea has me utterly stumped. Dry, it smelled a whole lot like eggnog to me. Steeped, it smells like lemon, eggnog, and vanilla. It’s bitter and definitely needs sweetening, but I didn’t know about the milk element. To me, the presence of a lemony flavour makes milk a no-no. But the scent of this really calls for that creaminess. I added a bit of soy milk and I think it was a good choice. God, this is a really unusual tea. I’m having trouble finding anything useful to say. It’s quite heavily black, so if black tea is only palatable to you with strong added flavours, you probably won’t like this. It kind of seems to me like a very toned down relative of Kusmi’s Anastasia (less so when milk is added [or maybe that’s just me, since when I drank Anatasia I thought milk would be a bad option]) mixed with a dash of spice and a lot of vanilla. It smells very, very good both brewed and dry.

Sorry, I wish this was a more helpful review, but my main reason for drinking tea just now is that I’m in a rush for class and wanted something comforting and something that would wake me up a bit, since I don’t have time for breakfast. I have another bag of this, so I’ll be elaborating on this soon. It’s what the description would imply, basically-citrus-y, vanilla-y, black tea-y, a bit spicy. The spice is really an aroma, flavour or impression. It doesn’t provide any bite or sharpness like in chai, and the only “bite” comes from the bitterness of the tea, which I found bitter even when steeped according to the directions.

I gave this another try, and found that eggnog-y smell yet again : ) Brewed, it smells and tastes absolutely nothing like that, and to me, not at all like the dry impression. I tried it without milk at first, again, because with both this and St. Petersburg, I feel like it’s hard to really get an impression of them. I tried to figure them both out last time, and this is a continuation of that aim. Without milk, I got a kind of citrus and for some reason vanilla-turkish delight-y flavour. It seemed lacking without milk as the first time I drank it, so I added a bit (really not like when you add 1/2 or 1/3 of the cup—I do mean a bit). It has a strong lemon note this way, and with the milk, it seems wrong. I only get vanilla at the end of the mouthful, so it’s mostly a black tea with lemon with an appealing vanilla aftertaste. There’s some incredibly subtle clove, as well. I had some bitterness like last time, but I did oversteep it. The aftertaste is so weird and delicious.

This was my last bag of this from the Kusmi essentials box I’ve got, so now I’m wishing I’d given it more of a go without milk. It’s not awful with it or anything, but I do get the sense without milk is the way to go. Overall, I’m not impressed. I wouldn’t buy a tin of this, but if I got another sampler or it came with something else, I’d still drink it without grudge.

One of my long-awaited mini-tins!

I tried this one first because I know it’s my friend Joyce’s favorite. Or at least it seems to be. I brought it in to work to share with my co-workers. ^_

I wasn’t sure how much to add or how long to steep since there wasn’t any instructions on the mini-tins. I figured it was the standard 1tsp, 3-4 min of blacks. Wound up steeping a bit longer because it was a busy day! (Also got a few resteeps out of it. Yay!)

The flavor is a nice bergamont-yness with a hint of spice and citrus notes. It was just as good after it’d cooled off as it was hot.

I purchased some tea from Kusmi, one part of the order being their Russian sampler. This is part of that sampler.

Hubs actually requested some Earl Grey this morning, so I made him a latte with my Adagio. I could probably use up the countless EG tea bags I have on him, but when I’m making tea, scooping and smelling are part of the ritual. To make good tea for me and mediocre for him… Eh. I should just take the bags to work for other people.

So back to the Prince. This stuff smells wonderful – I’m not sure what element of it is so pleasing to me, but it might be the grapefruit. I’ve not had that in tea before, so that might be why my brain doesn’t analyze it as grapefruit.

I went latte with mine too, probably should have tried it straight for the first tasting (though I did take a quick straight sip to get room for the milk – brewing in a cup with a basket doesn’t leave enough room for frothing! – and that was good). It’s not as intense as EG, which I thought it might be similar to, but it doesn’t have the bite that EG always seems to have. I think hubby might like this. I know I do.

So between the Captain the other day, and the Prince today, I’m hanging around with some title people lately. ;)

Can’t agree more with Angrboda’s review… I instantly thought about St. Petersburg when I first tried Prince Vladimir, but then I was kinda surprised by this association because the 2 teas didn’t really taste THAT similar. The main difference is of course, the spicy and slightly zesty flavour. Compared to St. Petersburg, this is probably a more exciting tea, but I guess I like the fruity flavour of St. Petersburg more ;)

I had this tea for the first time in Paris of all places (!!), and I don’t know if it was the overall Paris experience that sent me over the edge, but this tea is so perfect. The packaging is so well designed too! I’d never tasted any thing like it, and indeed, it is wonderful on its own or with a small dash of cream and honey. The citrus, vanilla, and bergamot blend together beautifully. I can imagine drinking this both in winter and summertime. Finally found a loose leaf tin for a reasonable price at Monsieur Marcel’s at The Grove in Hollywood, CA. Thank you Kusmi!

As my other tasting notes indicate, I’m a big fan of Kusmi teas. Given that this is listed on their site as one of their most popular teas of course I was obligated to give it a go. I can honestly say I’ve never experienced a tea quite like Prince Vladimir. From the initial aroma to the final brew, it is a decidedly unique tea. In fact, the first time I opened the canister in the presence of one of my friends and he had a whiff, he asked me if the contents were legal!!! Like most Kusmi teas, the final brew is very smooth with virtually no bitterness and the spices are easily discernible on the palate with or without adding sugar or milk. In my opinion it is the unique nature of this tea that is its most endearing quality (as opposed to the taste alone, which is still quite good). Its always fun keep some on-hand to expose my “non-hot-tea drinking friends” to “something different”. This is just a fun tea, period.

Prince Vladimir makes a nice cup of tea.
It’s very light, sweet and refreshing.
The vanilla in the tea makes it smooth and easy to drink, very relaxing.
I had it black but I imagine it would be just as nice with milk and something to sweeten it (honey, sugar, etc.), though it would make the tea more heavy and I would assume you would have steep it a little long so the flavour of tea is not lost to the milk.

My family was in Paris and randomly stopped in the Kusmi tea shop for a quick lunch. I was extremely hesitant to try any of the teas, because they typically don’t add milk to them in France and I usually dump so much milk into my tea it’s almost the same shade as my porcelain mugs.

I have a high sensitivity for bitterness, and this tea is literally the only tea I’ve ever been able to drink without adding copious amounts of milk to it. It’s light and creamy with hints of cinnamon and a definite citrus flavor, which I love.

This is a tea I would whole hardheartedly recommend to anybody who likes flavored citrus teas. It’s simply fantastic.

When I serve several Kusmi teas at my annual borscht party, this one is always the favorite. Some guests sweeten it with a bit of Earl Grey jelly.

Grade: B.O.P. (Broken Orange Pekoe)
Prince Vladimir, an unbelievable great Russian blend with an unbelievable great smell, that really screams: I AM RUSSIAN!!!
The smell of the dry tea is primary dominated by citrus and cloves, but also has a clear vanilla note on top of it all. The combination of citrus, spices and vanilla somewhat smells like Coca-Cola. The color of the brewed tea is light brown with a touch of orange, and it’s body is light verging on medium. It mostly smells of cloves when it’s brewed, but it also has a subtle lemon/grapefruit note over it, and a sweet vanilla smell too.

The taste of Prince Vladimir is mostly cloves, cinnamon and vanilla. The citrus notes do only appears at the end of the sip, especially when oversteeped. The aftertaste is very peppery, because of the cloves/cinnamon. As you would expect from Kusmi Tea, the tea itself is not bitter and tannic. All in all I would say that this is one of the best Russian blends i have tasted. Kusmi Tea is an expensive tea, and it really isn’t to buy around every corner, but it is well worthing the effort and the price. I also like the fact that the whole tea company is a relic from the ancient Russia. You really feel like a tsar when you drink Kusmi Tea, it simply can’t be more tsar-y!!

Overview:

Appearance: Lightly broken black tea leaves and grapefruit peel.
Dry tea-smell: Lemon, grapefruit, cloves and vanilla. Coca-Cola.
Color: Orangish-brown.
Brewed tea-smell: Cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and citrus.
Taste: Cloves and cinnamon, vanilla and grapefruit, lemon, light pepper and of course black tea.

First tried this tea in 2006 in Quebec City at the Chateau Frontenac. It then took me almost two years to track down a supplier for it that didn’t cost and arm and a leg to ship. Dearly love this tea with just a hint of sugar.

Mmm… Kusmi has done it again! Usually I am not a fan of vanilla, but in this tea it works. I smelled cloves very strongly when I opened the bag, but did not taste them overly much. I would not have minded, cloves always remind me of the holidays. The citrus adds nice, clean notes to the mild black tea. The bag resteeps well and has been fueling me all morning! If I had to choose between this and Anastasia I would choose Anastasia, but I would not turn down this tea if offered.

The more I drink this tea the more I like it. We have this french vanilla creamer at work, and with that and a little sugar, drinking this tea is exactly like eating a gingerbread cookie. <333

I was very intrigued by this tea because of the nature of this blend (Russian, of course) and because of the tin box.
A very fragrant and tasty tea, to be enjoyed any time of the day.
The best part of this tea is that, if you focus on one of the main flavours of the blend, you are able to taste each and every one of them.
I drink it sweet, with no milk or lemon. I tried it once with milk, and it wasn’t that bad. Still, I do prefer it plain and sweet.

I loved all Kusmi teas I have tasted, but this one is my favourite. The taste of vanilla is perfectly balanced and it’s just enough sweet.