Prince Vladimir

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Bergamot Oil, Cinnamon, Citrus Essence Oil, Clove, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Organic Black Tea, Organic Orange Peel
Flavors
Bergamot, Citrus, Orange, Vanilla, Bitter, Blood Orange, Citrus Zest, Lemon Zest, Sweet, Earth, Orange Zest, Cinnamon, Citrusy, Cloves, Lemon, Spicy, Smoke, Wood, Ginger, Pepper, Popcorn, Salt, Almond, Astringent, Custard, Thick, Citrus Fruits, Spices, Clove, Musty
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
High
Certification
Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by Teatotaler
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 45 sec 3 g 32 oz / 955 ml

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From Our Community

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46 Want it Want it

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145 Own it Own it

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135 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I’m having a cup of this now and I had a cup of Kusmi’s St Petersburg earlier. I really like both, but I can’t decide which of the two I like best. They’re very very similar but still different...” Read full tasting note
    86
  • “This is the last of my Kusmi blends from the sampler that I have to get rid of. I am not big on the Kusmi base but I discovered I liked it better cold brewed. However, this one has spices in it,...” Read full tasting note
    74
  • “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...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “I’m moving in slow motion today. Hubs and I went out to a bar for karaoke for a friend’s birthday last night. Good thing my esophagus seems to be back in fighting shape – the AR appears to have...” Read full tasting note
    87

From Kusmi Tea

CITRUS FRUIT, VANILLA AND SPICE FLAVORED BLACK TEA

A charming prince with tangy notes of grapefruit, orange and lime on an Earl Grey base!
This Prince Vladimir really is a catch! He arrives gloriously on his white horse and whisks you away for an unforgettable teatime. Who could say no to a cup of tea served by a prince?

The horse ride begins… Using a base of organic Earl Grey black tea, Prince Vladimir gathers the finest fruits to delight your taste buds: bergamot, grapefruit, and lemon… all topped off with delicious orange peel! Slip from medieval Russia to the modern day and back again with every sip! Protective, reassuring, and always with a winning smile, Vladimir offers a truly timeless experience.

Prince Vladimir and Anastasia are the star couple at Kusmi. She quickly succumbed to his charms… and so did we! What are you waiting for?

Organic tea available loose because it’s good for the planet, and in teabags for when you’re on the go.
THE INFO YOU NEED

Vladimir I, who became Prince of Kiev in 980, was an iconic figure in medieval Russia. Nicknamed the Great, the Red Sun, and even the Saint, his personality suddenly changed during his reign and he became so kind that the people rechristened him Beautiful Sun!
… read less
INGREDIENTS

Black tea* (95%), orange peel*, cinnamon extract, natural vanilla flavor, natural clove flavor, citrus essential oils. *Organically grown ingredients

About Kusmi Tea View company

Company description not available.

135 Tasting Notes

20
303 tasting notes

This is one of those teas I’ve always avoided. When I picked it out going by scent, though, I think the hot mess that is Mamma Mia from David’s Tea had infiltrated this bag a little, in spite of being double-bagged itself.

As I now smell the tea, I get far less wacky fruit punch. It’s fairly nondescript, but it’s clear it’s a citrusy black tea, which is one of my least favourite combinations. It makes me think of being carsick. The tea puts me in our old Mercedes, scorching blackhot inside from being parked in the sun for hours. The citrus gives me the lemon-scented wetwipes my mother cleaned me off with after I’d been sick. It makes me sad and vomity and grouchy and achingly sentimental all at once, and to this day, I really can’t deal with lemon-scented things.

Steeped, the tea itself isn’t so bad, but it’s too flat and too subtle and too citrusy and has a pretty boring tea base and is just really not for me.

(ETA: Ugh, as this cools, it starts to smell like an old seatbelt.)

Thanks for sharing, whoever put this in!

[Sample from the EU Travelling Box, autumn 2013.]

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Sil

blah blah i say to this one…BLAH

Fjellrev

Oh dear, that’s terrible. I’ve only ever smelled it in the store and thought it smelled like candy cola bottles, but had a hunch it wouldn’t work out.

Anna

They can rename it K-eww-blah-i Khan, maybe. And I’m really going to stop with these tea puns. At some point. Maybe.

Anna

Ughh, those bottles, though. Like flat Coke that’s stood around for ages and gotten chewy.

I really don’t think this is a bad tea in general, though – it’s just me and my black citrusy hangups.

Sil

it’s close enough to an earl grey to not be a delicious tea for me

Anna

Teas that make me want my mommy are a no-go.

gmathis

You are absolutely poetic! Wet-wipe flashbacks—-love it!

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68
761 tasting notes

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.

Indigobloom

I know what you mean, my first cup was great and then after that I couldn’t figure it out!

Fjellrev

I ALMOST got this in Banff. So glad I didn’t!

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80
2816 tasting notes

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

ScottTeaMan

Thanks for the link Amy,

TeaBrat

I’m into history so I had to throw that in. ;)

ScottTeaMan

I’ve never tried Kusmi Teas…the history was interesting.

SpecialTeas had a Russian Blend called Tsarina Blend. I remember it being really good. It had green tea pearls in it that really smoothed out the black tea.

Tea Table has some @ $9.5 for 4 oz, saw it somewhere else too, but can’t remember where.

TeaBrat

I found some Czar Nicholas II Tea here in San Francisco (where there is a large Russina population in the Richmond district). It was very good and similar to the Kusmi tea but shockingly cheap – $8 for an 8 oz. bag!

ScottTeaMan

Awesome….do you think Kusmi Teas are worth the cost? On their website a 4 oz tin was what $16. Seems a little high, but not for really good tea. There are alot of cool Teahouses and web co’s in SF….you’re lucky.

I think I told you I like Holy Mtn Trading Co. I think they have a couple tea houses in SF. I love their Japanese teaware! :))

TeaBrat

I’ve never seen a Holy Mountain tea house in SF anywhere…
As for Kusmi I think they are a bit overpriced, somewhat of a novelty experience but they have some nice blends if you’re into highly flavored tea. Quality seems good.

ScottTeaMan

Oh no, I do like HM’s teaware, The teahouses I was thinking of— Imperial Tea Court.

ScottTeaMan

What teas do you like best?

I just remembered I forgot to post my review of H & S Genmai Cha. It was only a sample, so it’s not like I can just have another cup and post. I do remember most of what I wanted to say, but some specifics may be lost. I liked it, but it is not a tea I would drink regularly.

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77
169 tasting notes

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!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

I hope you feel better soon! Give yourself permission to rest and heal!

Hesper June

Thank you, Ashmanra!
Shortly after this note, a neighbor called me and said our ditch had broke loose again and water was running over our field…so much for resting.
Thankfully, it was not as bad as in the past and now I am home, with a mug of tea, my heating pad, cat on lap and steepster once again:)

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68
807 tasting notes

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.

Ysaurella

It was me ! I sent the sample of Prince Wladimir (in French we have a W to this tea name) :)
This is the second Kusmi tea I like enough to have in in cupboard with Anastasia.

Azzrian

Ah I thought it may be you! It somehow escaped the envelope I have all of your teas in! Well thank you for sending me SO MANY yummy teas! And yes it does have a W in the name haha I thought maybe it was a writing error :) Neat to know about the W in place of V in french! :)

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61
790 tasting notes

Spices – clove, cinnamon… not sure, maybe something else.

No citrus for me. And an odd, off-putting something lurking in the background. Not bitter or harsh but not much going on for me besides the spices. Maybe some vanilla but not very noticeable to me.

Not horrible, and I finished the cup, but this is nothing I need to keep. So I have plenty for swapping if you think it might be more to your liking. :) This is the muslin bagged version, not loose leaf.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec
Sil

blaaaaaaah blaaaaaah on this one :)

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80
358 tasting notes

First cup of the day. It’s a beautiful day out today, full of sunshine but with that fall crispness in the air. The humane society that we foster for is having a big event downtown today that I had hoped to go to, but we have another event to go to tonight and I have kitty duty at Petsmart this afternoon plus letting my mom’s dogs out while she’s at work. I just don’t think I will be able to get all of my studying done in time to do it all. Maybe this tea will give me lots of energy so I can speed along through the day! :)

The teabag smelled very spicy (in a sweet kind of way) with a light citrusy note. The tea in my cup has a lemony aroma with a hint of spiciness. My first sip of this tea was ok, nothing special. It was mainly spicy (not overwhelmingly so) with a little citrusiness and smoothness thrown in. After adding milk and sweetener, however, I was sold! It brings out a sweet orange flavor and also some creaminess from the vanilla. It’s pretty much wonderful with milk and sweetener. It’s still very light, just a nice, relaxing cup without being too overwhelmingly citrus. Big thank you to Nicole for these teabags, I will definitely be saving the rest of them for a special day.

-Muslin teabag with a tag.
-Teabag smells of sweet spices with a light citrusy note. Tea liquor aroma is lemony with a hint of spices.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium brown color.
-Spicy and citrusy flavor with a smooth and spicy finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Smooth and sweet spiciness. Milk and sweetener bring out more of a sweet orange and vanilla creaminess.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec
keychange

LOL isn’t pretty much everything best with milk and sweetener?

Josie Jade

Agreed, keychange! It seemed especially the case yesterday. Every tea that I tried was far better with a little milk and sugar!

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73
284 tasting notes

This here is a sample I have to thank Sil for.

I don’t know why I am drinking this today, so soon after my unfortunate spice tea experiences from yesterday. Here’s what you missed if you weren’t reading these yesterday. I missed the mark with Ginger Darjeeling Peach and later in the evening I went for Glitter and Gold knowing full well I am not going through a spice tea phase. So today, what do I do today? I brew this one here. What’s in it? Spice and citrus.

I must be some kind of dumb. I think what’s happening is I am not in the mood for fruit teas and most of the stuff here is fruit flavoured teas (black, green and oolongs alike). So in trying to get away, I run into the arms of spice teas. What I do crave is chocolate, caramel and nutty things of which I have none.

This tea? I don’t know. Orange and spice. It brews rather dark at 2 minutes, probably more so if you go for 3 min. Smells spicy, like clove I think. The taste is not overwhelmingly spicy and the base is really not very strong. It’s a middle of the road tea. I had to sweeten it although not because it was tart but because it lacked something. I actually think this might be really good with Glitter and Gold. I have enough to try.

1 tsp, 8 oz, 90F for 2 minutes. Was afraid to go longer but no astringency at all, a braver soul could easily get away with a longer steep.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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86
412 tasting notes

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!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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54
788 tasting notes

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

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Angrboda

I’ve found that Kusmi often really comes out best with not-boiling water. In boiling they get too strong and the flavouring turns a bit funny.

AmazonV

thanks! any idea how much lower? like green tea-ish or just under boiling?

Angrboda

I don’t usually use thermometers, I just go by ear. Most of the time, I just boil it and then wait for it to go off boil. Sometimes I wait a little longer, but I don’t usually bring it all the way down to what I’d use for a green.

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