Peonies beaded with dew, and behind them peach, apricot, fig: White Rhapsody is a flavoured white tea which Mariage Frères describes as tender, sensual and perfumed, with a gourmand fragrance of ripe fruit and lively flowers. Our catalogue lists its base as Pai Mu Tan, a great white tea from China.

The declared composition combines tea, a flavouring, rose, cornflower, marigold and chamomile; the blend may contain traces of nuts. The tea appears in our catalogue under the Jardin Premier label. Dry, the coloured petals enliven the pale leaf, and the fruity fragrance rises as soon as the packet is opened.

White tea, lightly processed, gives a clear, velvety liquor on which the aromas settle lightly. The summer fruits open first, peach and apricot in roundness, fig in depth; then the flowers take over, and the chamomile adds a almost honeyed roundness in the background. The finish is floral and light: a symphony in white major, in the house's phrase.

It is an afternoon tea, to be drunk plain, unsweetened, with an apricot tart, a peach dessert, a shortbread or fresh cheese. Its lightness also makes it pleasant in the evening. As a cold infusion, the fruit gains in freshness.

It is available loose leaf, weighed 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, and in a black metal tin, airtight and with a lid seal, of 50 g, presented in its gift box. White tea prefers cooler water than black tea; the infusion settings for each format are shown on its product page.