On the high plateaus of Laos, at the heart of monsoon Indochina, tea grows in red, fertile soil. It is from here that the green tea of Thé des Moussons comes, a green apart: its leaves are dried over wood fire, which gives it a lightly smoked, flowery taste, far from the Japanese greens steamed.

Mariage Frères adds ginger, liquorice and rose; the blend may contain traces of nuts. The tin belongs to the Les Calligraphies du Thé collection, where the word “tea” is calligraphed in Lao, and the house presents this tea as a symbol of hospitality.

The liquor is clear and of an intensity one does not expect from a green tea. The smoke of the wood arrives first, discreet, then the floral note of rose and a freshness of ginger. The house notes accents of moss, that note of damp undergrowth that comes from the terroir, and the liquorice gives the finish a lasting softness.

It is drunk during the day, plain, and happily accompanies a savoury dish, a fragrant rice or a grilled fish, where its smoky note finds an echo. Those who like smoked teas but find them too powerful will see here a gentler gateway.

Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and three minutes of steeping, no longer. Thé des Moussons is sold in a lacquered, screen-printed metal tin of 100 g, which keeps its smoky note away from other odours.