This version is surprisingly and pleasantly nice! It has a wonderfully light liquor yet a strong body without being tanic. You can drink it without milk" Of course, any black tea without milk is barbaric -to a Westerner or Englishman! But now a little history!
Prince of Wales tea was first made for Edward (the divorcee chaser), whom became King of England for about 45 minutes, only to relinquish his crown at THE most critical time in England's history because he wanted an American divorcee named Walace Simpson. She is still disparangly referred to as "Mrs. Simpson', or simply, "That Woman". Edward, abdicated the crown and became "The Duke of Windsor" (ha), and Walace became "That Woman" and was entitled to ...nothing royal. In fact, she was not even permitted back in England until her husband, the Duke, died in 1972. In the mean time, Edwards, brother, "Poor Bertie" stuttered his way into our hearts as The King who would not abandon his people even when the bombs were falling. Thank God for a great Regent!
I am grateful that Edward abdicated, as Bertie was a far finer bloke. I am also grateful for Edward because he had this wonderful tea blended!! OK, so Edward was THE Upper Class Twit of The Century and a bloody nazi-lover, but he DID NOT fall for the nazi efforts to obtain his support during war time. Edward only supported the nazis before The Battle of Britain... Yeah, Okay, he was a creep and had no sense of duty. However, he DID have a fantastic sense of taste for the finer things in life (the cad). Naturally, he HAD to have a special tea blend all his own. What was that exact blend? Hmmm. Presumably, Twinings, whom purchased the rights to sell the blend from The Palace knows the exact blend. Is this the same blend that Edward drank as The Prince of Wales in the 1920s? Who knows. I have had many versions of this tea. It is supposed to be ALL Chinese tips from the best regions (e.g. monkey tea, etc.) Twinings received the Official Windsor Royal wink to use the forgotton blend and they have been producing it for a long time. Of course, Twinings rarely sells Price of Wales in England! I think you have to go to the famous shop on The Strand to buy it and I suspect that this is far better than the boxed variety sold in groceries all over the world (except Britain!). It comes in a black box from Twinings (if you can find it) and it is surely their best mass-marketed tea. I tastes simply like good Chinese tea with a hint of something else...Hmmm. However, ET's Prince of Wales, is far more colourful, delicate, robust and FAR more likely to be closer to the real thing than what Twinings sells in the supermarket. But, who knows?!! perhaps someone who is still alive and somehow tasted the real thing will write about the tea? Perhaps Twinings will open up their vaults and reveal the truth? (nah) In the mean time, I will continue to sample different Prince of Wales blends and wonder. ET's version is WELL worth the price and, if the lads at ET are still talking to me, I will surely buy more.
PS: Don't buy Darjeeling, unless you see the atached symbol! Without this symbol, you have less than a 5% chance of scoring real Darjeeling. Don't take my word for this...
