The word tea, calligraphed in English on a lacquered tin: Britannia belongs to the Mariage Frères collection Les Calligraphies du Thé, where each country receives its tea and its tin. That of the British crown is a malty black tea, with tones of fruit, citrus and spice, an exoticism that recalls, the house says, the distant lands of the empire on which the sun never set.

The ingredient list includes tea, cocoa, almond, cinnamon, apple, vanilla, bilberry and a flavouring; it appears in full on the tin and on this sheet. Almond is a full ingredient in its own right, and the blend may contain traces of other tree nuts.

The liquor is amber, round, malty. The fruit opens, apple and citrus; cinnamon and cocoa bring warmth; vanilla and almond round off the finish with a pastry-like sweetness. It is an indulgent black tea yet structured, keeping the bearing of an English tea beneath its aromas.

Mariage Frères specifies that it is enjoyed with or without milk, of course. With milk, it becomes a British breakfast tea, round and creamy; without, it keeps more clarity and goes with a scone, a fruit cake or a shortbread at teatime.

It is presented in a lacquered and screen-printed metal tin containing 100 g of flavoured black tea. For preparation, allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and 5 minutes' steeping. Britannia, Thé de la Couronne, is available from La Boutique du Thé, official Mariage Frères stockist since 1999 in Bordeaux and Nice; keep the tin closed, away from light and odours.