Smoked tea, in China, is born from drying the leaves over a pinewood fire, which gives them that resinous smoky fragrance recognisable above all others. Mariage Frères, which offers several degrees of smokiness, has composed with Feu de Thé the most restrained of them: a subtly balanced blend of black tea and smoked tea, with a fine taste and a very light smokiness.

The leaf is that of a black tea, mixed with that of a smoked tea; dry, the smell of smoke is present but contained, and behind it one senses the wood and the tea itself. The house classes it among its morning teas, gentle and balanced, and in our range it carries the Jardin Premier label. The full list of ingredients appears on the packaging and on this page.

The liquor is amber and powerful, but the power comes from the structure of the black tea more than from the smoke. The woody and resinous aromas settle in without ever taking over; one keeps the tea on the palate, with its roundness and frank tannins, and the smoke remains a nuance, a memory of a fireside rather than a campfire. It is the smoked tea of beginnings, the one offered to those who have never dared.

It is drunk in the morning, plain or with a cloud of milk, which softens its smokiness further; it goes wonderfully with a savoury breakfast, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, a sheep's cheese. At the table, it stands up to game or mushrooms, and makes an interesting tea stock in cooking.

Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and five minutes of steeping. Feu de Thé is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a sachet designed to preserve its aroma. Store it apart from other teas: the smoke passes to them.