Talk:Prince of Wales tea blend

You can tell it has Keemun of "gungfu" grade by the smell.

A blend of black teas?
Although, the Keemun is a black tea, Gunpowder and Lucky Dragon are green teas and oolong is a seperate catagory all together. So, to say that it is a "blend is made from China black teas" is not correct. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that it is a "blend of black, green, and oolong teas"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.17.130.42 (talk) 20:43, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

who on earth is alan nelson
and why should we care whether he is obsessed with prince of wales or not, remove this troll forthwith! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Special:Contributions/ (talk) 10:46, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

Tea Sourcing Confusion and Tea as The Center of The Universe.
Shall we remove him with bodily force and violence? Are you the arbiter of all things of value? Did a troll once abuse you as a child? If so, exactly what did the troll do to you, and what are you doing to receive care so that you can recover?

1. The second version of Prince of Wales tea that has been making the 'rounds is not even related to the original and is a potpourri of flavouring teas and flavouring elements. It's an OK tea -seems to be clean and well blended, but it is nothing like the original POW tea blended for the Prince of Wales in 1919. The original POW was surely ALL Chinese black teas. This was Edward's taste. The original POW tea MIGHT have had a small amount of Darjeeling green or Chinese Pu'hr, but this is conjecture based on the Edward's (i.e. Mr. Simpson) tastes. He was an abysmal king and prince, but he had impeccable culinary taste. The Duke of Windsor could probably have rivaled a professional tea "taster" (i.e. a master tea blender). on Twining's label, they fail to mention that King Edward the VIII quickly changed jobs and became the Duke of Windsor. After he died, the Queen wisely decided to retire the title.

2. The Twinings variety of Prince of Wales tea is ironically one of two teas they sell that I find interesting. I have not been to the Strand in many years, so I have no idea what is going on with the company, but one used to be able to go there and acquire some serious teas; -e.g. a specific flush and estate of many Darjeelings, estate Keemuns, Po'hrs and other teas that aficionados drink. Why are such tea better than ordinary "Tips". Why is a Chateaux Lafitte Rothschild, 1958 better than a bottle of orange Nee-Hi? Why are Mozart and Duke Ellington better than "Lady Gagme"? Golly, I have no idea, but I sure enjoy them a lot more, and as I get older they only get better. Without acquired tastes I would still be listening to Tommy James and The Shondells. Hey, an occasional dose to bring me back to 8 years old, —OK, but I am NOT a "Shondell-Head".

3. Yeah, I know, —who cares?. Well, you may not know this, but tea is a passion of millions of people who are not satisfied with the regulation cuppa' Tips or Lyons. Almost all teas found in groceries are BLENDS of many teas designed to maintain a boring cup of tea that is convenient and suits the tastes of the indigenous population. E.g. Lipton claims that their Yellow Label tea is blended exactly the the same the world over, but this is nonsense. If you blind-fold me or any experienced amateur, we will be able to tell you which cup of Lipton's came from which country. Within in 1-2 seconds I will sip and say "USA" or "Punjab" or London, etc.and be right 100% of the time. Try me.

This is not why I am a tea drinker, but after 40+ years of seriously drinking and blending teas you learn some pretty wild stuff. I am serious about tea because I love the taste of certain teas and I have always hated coffee; —from my first memories, the aroma of brewed coffee has made me ill, yet a 2nd flush Makaibari Darjeeling correctly brewed within 1 month of processing, is a special treat. Each Keemun with it's malty-Earthy taste has a unique taste and we can telly you which estate produced the tea ...blindfolded.

This is not about snobbery. It's about being fascinated with a history and culture you can taste and share with your ancestors from thousands of years ago (i.e., if you are drinking Chinese tea. until ca. 1760 ALL tea grew and was processed solely in China.). I am strictly a black tea person, and the variation of flavours and histories for just black teas is overwhelming.

4. ALL teas come from the exact same genus of plant, i.e. Camellia Sinensis. There are no variations or subspecies; bar an ancient variety called Camellia Sinensis Assamica that is used strictly for the making of a special Chinese tea called Pu'hr (poo-aire). Pu'hr and many Wu Longs tea possess fantastic medicinal properties that scientists are just beginning to sort out in labs. Presently, you should only expect appetite suppression, stimulation, improved concentration, cholesterol reduction, blood pressure reduction, weight control and GI improvement from tea drinking. I honestly understand little of the "free radical" benefits as I did not read organic chemistry. Any other fantastic claims commonly made by the myriad of hucksters out there trying to take your money are to be highly suspect. You have to do a lot of learning testing and drinking to see what teas will help you. NO; tea is not curing my rare blood disease, but it has greatly improved many symptoms. When I was diagnosed I was told not to drink tea. I had agreed to everything else, but politely said, "In your ear, doctor. I am gonna' drink MORE tea! ". Keemuns, Darjeelings, Pu'hrs, Oolongs, Yunnans, Fujians, Assams,etc, etc. And the conventional meds are working better for me than almost any other patient the hospital treats.

5. Quality organic teas drunk regularly are GOOD for you. Coffee is more of a drug and in quantity, is not good for you. With tea, it seems that the more you drink the better, as long as your sleep is OK. Black teas contain less than half the caffeine of the weakest coffee, however, any tea will produce over 100 stimulants of which you probably have not heard. For example, theophylline is derived from tea and sold as a prescription medicine for asthma called Theodore™. I have asthma. As a kid, I was on theophylline and it saved my life a few times. Twice I saved my own life by quickly brewing 4-5 bags of ordinary black tea in one cup and drinking the mess in two gulps. That is enough tea for a single dose of Theodore. I was having an asthma attack and had no inhaler or medicine. Most serious asthmatics know about his because if they have a decent doctor, he will tell them what to do in emergencies. One should always have a plan 'B'.

Tea is not just a cuppa' "Tip" to wake you up. BTW: "PG Tips", is one of the poorest of the grocery teas in the world. It is a bit of a fad in the USA because Americans think it is the favourite English tea, and most Americans believe that the English invented tea. Ironically, it was the English who literally burgled tea from the Chinese in the 19th century. In addition, England's youth have been on a coffee kick for many years. Coffee and fags (tobacco) are far cooler to the average hip teenager in London.than tea and biscuits.

May you taste all the tea in China. Cheers.

Availability
I used to buy it regularly, but I haven't been able to find Twinings' Prince of Wales tea anywhere the past few years, not from Twinings' own site or anywhere else. L:ately, I've noted that P-of-W tea bags were advertised, but still no loose-leaf. If this style is being phased out, the article should note the fact. WHPratt (talk) 15:08, 23 October 2021 (UTC)