The lavish feasts of One Thousand and One Nights inspired Festin d’Or: Mariage Frères blends a green tea with marigold petals and nana mint from Morocco, in the spirit of Eastern magnificence. A tea, says the house, to rediscover the pleasures of a lost paradise.

The declared ingredients are tea, orange, marigold and flavouring; the blend may contain traces of tree nuts. Nana mint is the green mint of Moroccan tea, sweeter than peppermint; the marigold, or calendula, adds orange petals that brighten the dry leaf.

The liquor is clear and fragrant. The rich scent of fresh mint opens, then the tender notes of citrus and orange peel take over, and the floral fragrances feast in the cup, in the house’s words. The green tea keeps the whole thing fresh and light, without bitterness if the infusion stays short.

It is drunk hot or cold, at any time of day. Hot, plain or lightly sweetened in the Moroccan manner, it goes with an almond pastry, gazelle horns, or a sweet and savoury tagine. Cold, infused then cooled over ice with a few fresh mint leaves, it becomes one of the most refreshing drinks of summer.

Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and three minutes of infusion. Festin d’Or is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a pouch designed to preserve its aroma, and should be kept in an airtight container, away from light and strong odours.