The intense, refreshing notes of peppermint, on a fine green tea: Menthe Poivrée Infinie is, according to Mariage Frères’ page, a flavoured green tea, not a simple mint infusion. The house describes it as deliciously invigorating; we would say frank, clean and fresh.

The ingredients are tea, a flavouring and mint; the blend may contain traces of tree nuts, and the house’s file lists it among its Jardins Premiers. Peppermint leaves, sharper and more mentholated than the green mint of Moroccan teas, are blended with the tea leaf.

The liquor is clear. The peppermint opens with vigour, almost icy on the palate; the green tea underneath brings a vegetal freshness and a slight bitterness that give it body and stop the cup tasting like a sweet. The finish is long, mentholated, and leaves the mouth fresh, which makes it a well-liked after-meal tea.

It is drunk plain, unsweetened, after lunch or dinner, or in the afternoon. It goes with oriental cooking, a tagine, almond pastries, dark chocolate. Iced, it becomes one of the most thirst-quenching drinks there is, to be made in a jug with a few fresh mint leaves and ice cubes.

Allow 2.5 g for 200 ml of water at 95 °C and just two minutes’ infusion, as the house advises: peppermint expresses itself quickly. Menthe Poivrée Infinie 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; store it in an airtight container, away from other teas, which it would flavour.