“Play it again, Sam”: Mariage Frères makes no secret of the reference. Rouge Casablanca borrows its name and timeless exoticism from the film, and brings together on a red rooibos two flavours the house describes as legendary, soft mint and bergamot.

Rooibos, a shrub from the plateaus of South Africa, is 100% caffeine-free; its oxidised needles produce a sweet, slightly woody, amber-red liquor low in tannins. The declared ingredients are red rooibos, flavouring and mint, and the blend may contain traces of nuts. It features in the house catalogue under the Jardin Premier label.

On the nose, mint dominates, fresh and upright, closer to Moroccan tea than to a mint lozenge. On the palate, bergamot comes straight after, zesty and floral, and the rooibos rounds everything off with a naturally sweet softness. One thinks of a Maghrebi mint tea that has crossed paths with an Earl Grey one evening on a terrace; the finish stays fresh, without bitterness.

We recommend it after dinner, plain or lightly sweetened in the Moroccan manner. It goes well with cornes de gazelle, dates and a dark chocolate dessert, and it brews very well iced, in a carafe, for hot days. Children and those who avoid caffeine will find a fragrant cup that does not taste like an ordinary herbal infusion.

Available as loose leaf, packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in the (Iconic) tea tin of 100 g, black metal and airtight, presented in its gift box, and in a box of 30 round cotton muslin tea sachets, net weight 75 g. Measure 2.5 g of loose leaf or one muslin sachet per 200 ml of water at 95 °C, and let it steep for five minutes.