Co-op – Indian Prince
Today’s tea review is Co-op Indian Prince, a blend of black teas from Kenya and the Nilgiri Mountains in India. So it is basically your standard cup of black tea, although obviously one that is a bit fancier than, say, Co-op’s 99 Blend.
As it’s always devilishly difficult to find things to say about such teas, I shall resort to my standard technique of brewing it up alongside a control cup of Twinings Everyday Tea and making a side-by-side tea-tasting comparison.
This has the advantage of giving you a comparison of two higher-end supermarket-available blends and also means I get to drink two cups of tea at the same time without causing some kind of scandal.
Why is it called Indian Prince? This is not a rhetorical question. I genuinely have no idea. It’s not even a fully Indian tea. The Co-op website is not forthcoming on the matter, but according to other sources, this tea blend has been around for over 70 years, so perhaps the reasons for its name have now been lost in the fog of history.
Incidentally, if you are curious about the current state of actual Indian princes, although royalty was officially abolished in India in 1971, there are still several ‘royal families’ knocking about the place, including the Mewar and Wadiyar dynasties and the royal family of Jaipur. They all seem to be keeping alive the most royal tradition of all, namely having more money than anyone else.
Back to the tea, Tastewise, Indian Prince is not as robust as Twinings Everyday. Teas don’t have to be robust, of course. There’s many a fine delicate tea to be had. Sadly, in Indian Prince’s case, though, it’s more ‘insipid’ than ‘delicate’.
It’s perfectly drinkable, mind you. If I’d done a taste comparison with PG Tips, then it would have been the winner, but given my strong feelings about the undrinkability of PG Tips, that’s not very high praise, really.
Co-op gets an extra half-star for having good ethical credentials and a picture of an elephant on the box. And quite frankly, they should be happy with that.
Today’s book pairing is Pride: The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement by Matthew Todd. Because it’s Pride month. Although, to be fair, every month is pride month at Te Fancier Towers.
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