Five spices, not one more, with cinnamon appearing in two forms. This Ombelle blend sticks to the base found in many Indian kitchens, the one fried in ghee or simmered in milk: ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, clove and cardamom. All five come from organic farming.

The ginger, listed first, comes from Nigeria, Peru or China; the cinnamon, in sticks from Viêt-Nam and Indonesia, is accompanied by Ceylon cinnamon; the black pepper from Tanzania, Sri Lanka and India. Cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum, is a cousin of ginger, of the same family, the Zingiberaceae; its small green pods contain seeds with a camphor and lemon fragrance. Clove, for its part, is a flower bud dried before it opens.

The dry blend, brown and rooty, has remarkable aromatic density. The liquor is dark amber. The warmth builds gradually, without jolts: the cinnamon provides the foundation, the ginger brings liveliness, the pepper sharpens mid-palate, the clove marks the finish, and the cardamom perfumes the whole journey. Without fruit or sugar, it is a pure, powerful cup that leaves a long spiced impression.

After a meal, caffeine-free, it is prepared as follows: 7.5 to 10 grams in a 500 ml teapot, water at 100 °C, and wait for seven to ten minutes to pass. It also serves as the base for a homemade chai latte: let it steep, then top up with hot milk of your choice, sweetened or not.

It accompanies a carrot cake, dates, or a cardamom kheer. Each sachet is filled at the counter, in Nice or in Bordeaux, in packaging that preserves the vigour of the spices.