Drink it plain first, then, next time, try it with milk: Chaï Earl Grey changes character with the method, and Mariage Frères recommends it hot or iced, with or without milk. The house orchestrates a bold meeting of flavours, that of the fresh, sparkling notes of bergamot and its imperial spices: ginger, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and clove.

The composition is generous: tea, cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, ginger, clove, pink pepper, bergamot and flavouring; the blend may contain traces of tree nuts. The spices are visible as pieces in the dry leaf, ginger and cinnamon at the front, before the citrus comes in to lift the whole.

In the cup, the amber liquor is intense and warming. The bergamot opens, zesty; the spices follow in waves, floral cardamom, warm cinnamon, ginger with a light prickle, clove in the background. The black tea holds everything together with tannins that are present without being harsh. The harmony works because neither scent tries to cover the other: the bergamot keeps the chai from growing heavy, the spices give the Earl Grey an unexpected length.

Plain, the citrus dominates; steeped directly in hot, lightly sweetened milk, in the Indian manner, it turns creamy and the spices take the lead; iced, it surprises with its freshness. It is an afternoon and winter teatime tea, with a ginger biscuit, a carrot cake, or at brunch.

It is offered loose leaf, weighed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from a 5 g sample up to one kilo, in the iconic 100 g tea tin, metal and airtight, in its gift box, and in a box of 30 round cotton muslin tea sachets, 75 g in total. Allow 2.5 g or one cotton muslin tea sachet per 200 ml of water at 95°C, and five minutes. Keep it away from other teas.