Legend has it that Babylon was home to the Hanging Gardens, one of the seven wonders of the world. Mariage Frères drew on this image when composing Babylonia, an iced green tea from its French Summer Tea collection, where green tea meets red fruits including pomegranate, citrus, orange peel, berries and cornflower petals.

The declared ingredients are tea, citrus fruits, redcurrants, cornflower and a flavouring; the blend may contain traces of nuts. The house describes an original, fresh and indulgent composition, created specially for cold infusion.

Cold infusion draws out the aromas without the tannins. The iced liquor is fruity and tangy: the redcurrant and pomegranate bring liveliness, the citrus freshness, the orange peel a bitter-sweet roundness, and the green tea stays light in the background. No sugar needed.

Serve it from a jug, iced, at summer lunch, afternoon tea in the garden or as a non-alcoholic aperitif, with fresh fruit, a red berry salad or a redcurrant tart. Prepared the day before, it waits chilled, and its colour makes an impression in a clear carafe.

The method comes down to three steps: a measuring scoop, about 10 g, in a filter envelope; the flaps closed; at least one hour in the refrigerator in 1 to 1.5 litres of pure water. The glossy black blown-glass bottle with measuring scoop contains 160 g, enough to prepare 16 to 24 litres, and it comes with a packet of filter envelopes.