Infusing the imperial white peony, the Pai Mu Tan, with fruit, flowers, herbs or spices, and dedicating a complete collection to it: that is the idea from which the Marco Polo White Tea by Mariage Frères was born. The flowers and fruits of Tibet that define the house's best-known blend play here on the fresh aroma of a white tea, and complete the Marco Polo range, after the black tea, the green tea and the red rooibos.

The declared composition combines white tea, aromas and cornflower; the blend may contain traces of nuts. It is listed in the catalogue under the Jardin Premier label. The caffeine content is low. The Pai Mu Tan, made of buds and young leaves simply withered and dried, provides the lightest base of the entire range.

The liquor is clear and velvety. The notes are velvety, with a flash of berries and a gentle honeyed and vanilla touch, in the house's own words; the white tea brings its freshness and softness, and the balance between the perfume and the leaf is what astonishes. Marco Polo is recognisable, but in an airy version.

It is an afternoon tea, to be drunk plain, without sugar, in a fine cup. It goes well with a redcurrant tart, macarons and a lychee dessert. Iced, it is remarkable, white tea lending itself very well to cold infusion.

Allow 5 g per 200 ml of water at 85 °C and seven minutes of steeping; the generous measure and moderate temperature suit the light leaves of white tea. The Thé Blanc Marco Polo is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a bag designed to preserve its aromas; then store it in an airtight tin, away from light.