In India, tulsi grows in the courtyard of many homes: it is holy basil, Ocimum tenuiflorum, a member of the Lamiaceae family with a peppery fragrance more pronounced than that of the basil in our kitchens. It is found in Méditation Douce Stévia Bio, a caffeine-free evening herbal infusion in which it brings a singular spiced note.

The composition opens, however, with more familiar fruits and herbs: Turkish apple, Egyptian lemongrass, rosehip from South Africa, Eastern Europe or Chile. Then come chamomile, tulsi, black pepper, peppermint, lavender, stevia, marigold and immortelle flowers, cardamom and valerian. The entire recipe is organic.

The dry blend is flowery, golden from the marigold and immortelle. The golden liquor unfolds a deep floral register: the honey of the chamomile first, then the tulsi, slightly spiced, and the lavender in the background. The apple and rosehip give a fruity base; the stevia wraps the whole in a plant-based sweetness that makes sugar unnecessary.

This blend is dosed generously: 20 to 25 g per litre, or 10 to 12.5 g for a 50 cl teapot. The water boils at 100 °C; allow seven to ten minutes. It is drunk in the evening, plain, in the quiet of the end of the day, with a few almond biscuits or a pear.

Dried flowers keep their fragrance better in an airtight tin, kept dry and in the dark. We weigh it for you at the counter, in small or large quantities.