A black tea from Japan, smoked over oak from Japanese whisky casks: Smoky Nara resembles no other smoked tea. It comes from a family garden in the Shizuoka region, near Mount Fuji, grown using a method recognised under the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, respectful of the biodiversity of plants and animals, and it is smoked by hand.

Mariage Frères presents it as a grand cru, and packs it in a 50 g vacuum-sealed pouch to preserve the smoke. It is a plain tea, with no additions, and our product sheet confirms the absence of the fourteen allergens that must be declared. The house’s Jardin Premier label appears on our catalogue sheet.

The liqueur is amber and enveloping, rich in round malty notes and vanilla-scented tonka bean. The oak smoke is there, but it does not have the resinous character of the pine in Chinese smoked teas: it is softer, more woody, with that roundness the whisky cask leaves in the wood. The malt and vanilla extend the finish.

It is drunk during the day, plain, without milk, and pairs with salty foods, grilled fish, a matured cheese, meat, as well as with dark chocolate or a caramel dessert. Lovers of Japanese whisky will find a familiar register here, and lovers of smoked teas will discover a different smoke.

Allow 3 g per 200 ml of water at 95°C and four minutes of steeping. Once the pouch is opened, transfer the tea to an airtight container, away from other teas, which its smoke would scent.