A small plant of the Asteraceae family from Paraguay, stevia has a feature you notice from the first sip: its leaf is sweet. In Alizé d’Herbes & Maté Stévia Bio, it rounds off a blend built around a green maté from Brazil, for a cup that tastes softened before one even thinks of the sugar bowl.

The maté leads, and with it the caffeine it contains: this blend is for the morning and the day ahead. Egyptian or Turkish anise answers straight away. Then come mulberry leaves from Bulgaria or Albania, nettle, rosehip, then fennel, another Apiaceae with an aniseed flavour, and birch leaves. Eight ingredients in all, and not one of them is not organic.

The dry blend is a pale green, and its scent evokes a meadow crossed by anise. The golden liquor begins with the herbaceous bitterness of the maté, which the anise and fennel duo quickly rounds; the mulberry and nettle leaves extend the vegetal register, the rosehip brings a slight tang, and the stevia wraps everything in a clear sweetness that lingers on the finish.

Per litre, 12 to 15 g; per cup, two and a half or three grams. Pour water at 70 to 80 °C, simmering rather than boiling, and steep for five to ten minutes. Taste before sweetening: most palates will not feel the need. Chilled, it is also served over ice, in a carafe, on warm days.

An airtight box, stored in a dry, dark place, keeps the leaves' aniseed scent intact.