Chun Mee, in Chinese, means precious eyebrow: the leaf, fine and arched, resembles the shape of a human eyebrow, and that is what gave it its name. This plain green tea comes from Zhejiang province, on the eastern coast of China, one of the great green tea regions of the country, and Mariage Frères offers it loose leaf.

It is characterised, the house says, by its fineness, its bright green colour, and its pure, strong and lasting aroma. It is a green tea with no added aroma or flowers; the full list of ingredients appears on the packaging and on this page, and the tea carries the Jardin Premier label of Mariage Frères.

The liquor is clear and lively. You find a clean, fresh vegetal character, a slightly prune-like note, and the length on the palate that tightly rolled leaves give to Chinese green teas. Briefly infused, it is crisp and refreshing; infused longer, it gains body and a bitterness that some seek out precisely.

Chun Mee is, with gunpowder, the base tea of mint green tea: fresh mint, sugar, short infusion, served in small glasses, and the house says it is delicious for this use. Plain, it can be drunk throughout the day, and it makes a clear, bright iced tea, with or without lemon.

Allow 5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and three minutes’ steeping, a generous dose for a fine leaf. Chun Mee Zhejiang is weighed and packed into tea bags to order in our Bordeaux and Nice shops, from a 5 g sample up to one kilo, and keeps in an airtight tin, away from light and odours.