What if Earl Grey left black tea for an oolong? That is the proposal of Earl Grey Beauty, in which Mariage Frères pairs its bergamot with a whole-leaf Chinese blue tea, rolled into long dark curls that the house compares to a black dragon.

A blue tea is a semi-oxidised leaf, midway between green and black. Here, oxidation has been pushed a long way, giving the liquor a brown jasper tint and a round, warm flavour in which roasted pecan can be recognised. The bergamot answers this roundness with its fresh, zesty notes: the dialogue between the toasted and the citrus is what makes the cup interesting.

The composition is limited to blue tea and bergamot flavouring; the blend may contain traces of nuts. The leaf, low in caffeine like most oolongs, suits the afternoon and even the evening for sensitive palates.

Drink it plain, without milk, to keep the finesse of the bergamot over the woody base of the oolong. It goes with a nut cake, a shortbread biscuit or a piece of milk chocolate, and also lends itself to an iced infusion, in which the bergamot takes the lead. Fans of the classic will find a softer, smoother version, without the astringency that black tea sometimes brings.

Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95°C and five minutes of infusion, the time needed for whole leaves this tightly rolled to open. Earl Grey Beauty is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, and keeps best in an airtight tin, away from other fragrant foods in the kitchen.