I'm a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker. Every morning I make a fresh brew, in a proper teapot, nearly always using loose leaf tea. It's such a necessity for me that if I must travel, I take a small electric kettle, tea "socks," a small stash of leaf tea, and a travel mug big enough to double as a teapot. (Unless I'm traveling to the British Isles, where I can rely on a decent cuppa with breakfast.) I simply cannot get my day started properly without at least one large mug of tea.

Typically, there are four or five different loose leaf teas on heavy rotation in my kitchen, with two or three around for the occasional departure from my standbys. Twinings Prince of Wales loose leaf tea is one of the teas that I make less frequently. I have to be in the mood for it, but I don't mean to imply that it's inferior in any way because it must wait on my moods. I also keep Prince of Wales tea bags around for the rare occasion I want black tea in the afternoon. That's how it works in my house for some reason: loose leaf tea every morning, an occasional afternoon cuppa from a bag. (Don't let anyone, even a tea snob, tell you that you can't make a good cup of tea from a bag. The truth is, you can't make a good cup of tea without a pot. Tea does not "brew" in a paper cup. Trust me.)

I first encountered Prince of Wales tea in Italy of all places. At the time (late 2000), I'm not sure that it was even available in the States. So why don't I want to drink Twinings Prince of Wales every morning? It has a mixture of unusual flavors. A mild blackcurrant flavor blends with a hint of smokiness in this tea. It's the least smoky of all smoked teas I've ever tried, but the flavors still set this tea apart as something different from the run of the mill breakfast tea. So it's definitely something that the drinker should choose, rather than be surprised with.

When brewed, Prince of Wales tea has a medium color, with bright orange hues mixing with the overall brown. The aroma has fruity notes with a fainter malty tone, and just a bare hint of smoke. There is almost no astringency in the body, with a round flavor profile owing to the blending of teas from at least two regions of China. A nearly metallic flavor in the finish somehow manages not to be unpleasant. Sweetening the tea naturally plays up the blackcurrant flavor. Oddly, the smokiness is accentuated when this tea is taken with milk. Adding milk also predictably mellows the flavor of the tea while also reducing the astringency to an undetectable level.

I drink iced tea only in summer, and I always like my iced tea straight up, no funny business. (I have no idea why I have such fixed preferences about how I take tea at different times.) As a chilled and unsweetened tea, Prince of Wales shows more astringency, though it is still very mild, just a pleasing briskness. Floral notes come to the fore in the iced tea, with the blackcurrant playing a strong supporting role. The smokiness is present only as the faintest of aftertastes. The color of the iced tea tends more to the brown end of the spectrum and it loses some of its brightness, as is common when black teas are iced.

Twinings sells this loose leaf tea in a metal tin, which is a nice alternative to ubiquitous paper and plastic packaging. Those who try to avoid extra packaging may appreciate loose leaf teas in general, since they require less processing and produce less waste than tea sold in bags. The tin can be reused for storing teas or other dry goods purchased in bulk. I find that when such tins are aired out for a month or so, they don't contribute any lingering flavors to whatever is stored in them afterwards. And it's easy to tape a new label on tea tins to avoid confusion about the contents.

My overall impression of Prince of Wales tea is of a well-balanced tea with interesting and distinctive flavor notes. Its flavor and caffeine buzz are less intense than some teas. It's a good tea for later morning, with a slightly intellectual mood. I would not choose this as a wake-up tea when I'm underslept and need something to kick my butt into gear. I suppose the tea delivers what one might expect of its namesake: something out of the ordinary characterized by impeccable propriety.

Other edibles found in my kitchen, or not, as the case may be:

• Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes - A distinctive note in any recipe calling for canned tomatoes
• Muir Glen Organic Hearty Tomato Soup - for when the chef doesn't feel like cooking
• Arrowhead Mills Organic Popcorn - Happiness by the bowl
• Wasabi Powder - Sinus-clearing fun in a can
• Rusticchella d'Abruzzo Arrabbiata Sauce - Inferior to what you can easily make for yourself
• Rothschild Raspberry Preserves - Culinary gold you can spread on toast
• Ancho Chile Powder - Add pizzazz to so many different dishes
• Vanilla Saffron Imports - supplies me with excellent whole vanilla beans
• Campofrio Lomo - long-cured Spanish pork indulgence
• Coppola's organic Mafalde pasta - fancy pasta for an occasional indulgence
• McCann's Steel Cut Oats - eat like a king on a peasant's budget
• Central Milling Organic Bread Flour - better than white flour, better than whole wheat
• Kadoya Toasted Sesame Oil - concentrated sesame flavor



Recommended: Yes