The English breakfast has its tea, and Mariage Frères has given its version: a blend of black teas from, the house says, the noblest origins, very British, aromatic, colourful and full-bodied. The house's file ranks it among its Jardins Premiers.

The blend is built on broken leaves, and this is deliberate. Cut short, the leaf quickly releases its colour and tannins, and in three minutes gives a dense infusion with an intensely malty nose. It is a natural tea: the only declared ingredient is tea, and the product may contain traces of tree nuts.

The liquor is amber, round and bracing. Malt dominates, supported by a frank astringency that wakes the palate; the texture is full-bodied but perfectly balanced, according to the house, which is why it holds up beautifully to a splash of milk. The milk rounds the tannins and gives the cup that pale caramel colour typical of English-style tea.

Mariage Frères recommends serving it hot, with or without milk, accompanied by marmalade toast, and adds: for connoisseurs. Eggs, bacon, porridge may be added, everything that makes a full English breakfast. It also suits brunch, takes sugar without complaint, and in summer makes a robust iced tea.

Allow 2.5 g of leaves, or one cotton muslin (tea sachet), per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and three minutes' steeping, no longer: broken leaves quickly turn bitter. English Breakfast is available loose leaf, weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a box of 30 round cotton muslin tea sachets (75 g net), handy at the desk, and in a 100 g airtight black metal tin presented in its gift box.