A dessert inspired this tea: a melting cake under a vermilion of red berries, resting on a French meringue and a raspberry coulis. Mariage Frères drew from it Étoile Mystérieuse, a black tea with pastry notes, “mysteriously gourmand and starry”, presented in a tall gold bottle with a double lid, red with gold accents, containing 80 g.

The ingredients are tea, raspberry, starch, sugar and flavouring; the blend may contain traces of tree nuts. The house file classifies it among its Jardins Premiers. Pieces of raspberry dot the black leaf.

The liquor is round and indulgent. The raspberry comes first, ripe, with that tangy edge that makes a good coulis; then come the pastry notes, meringue, caramelised sugar, a melting sweetness that the black tea supports without ever fading. The finish is long, on red fruit. This is a dessert tea, in the true sense.

It is drunk in the afternoon, plain, at teatime, with macarons, a pavlova, a raspberry tart, or on its own, as a dessert. A cloud of milk brings it closer to a sweet pudding. Iced, the raspberry takes the lead and makes a very pleasant summer drink.

Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and five minutes of infusion. The double-lidded bottle protects the leaf from light and makes a lovely gift. La Boutique du Thé, official Mariage Frères stockist since 1999, offers it in its shops in Bordeaux and Nice.