Legend has it that in 2737 BCE a leaf fell into the water the Emperor Chen-Nung was boiling, and tea was discovered. Mariage Frères has given its name to a lightly smoked black tea blend, which the house describes as majestic: a very fine taste, a subtle aroma, and a gentle, balanced smokiness.

A smoked tea is made by drying the leaves over a wood fire, whose smoke infuses the leaf and leaves it its woody notes. Here the intensity is restrained. The smoke is present, but it lets the black tea express itself, with its roundness and warmth, and it is this balance that makes it a smoked tea for beginners as much as one for connoisseurs.

The liquor is amber and round. Woody and resinous notes arrive first, then the tea takes over, supple and free of harshness, through to a warming finish. Those put off by heavily smoked Lapsang will find a more agreeable smokiness here; lovers of peaty whisky will find a familiar register.

The house intends it for generous, savoury breakfasts, and this is where it is at its best: eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, cheese, toast. It is best drunk without milk, so the smoke stays clear, and it also accompanies a brunch, a charcuterie lunch, or a winter late afternoon by the fire.

Allow 2.5 g of leaves, or one cotton muslin tea sachet, per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and five minutes of steeping. Empereur Chen-Nung is available loose leaf, weighed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample up to one kilo, in a box of 30 round cotton muslin tea sachets, 75 g net, and in an airtight black metal tea tin of 100 g presented in its gift box. Whatever the format, keep it apart from other teas: its smoky aroma marks everything around it.