An emblem of perfection and purity, jade symbolises harmony between Heaven and Earth. Mariage Frères has named Montagne de Jade after it: a green tea with a jade hue, gracefully blended with fruit from the mountains of the Golden Triangle, mango, pineapple, bael, and flowers, for a cup the house describes as a silky elixir. It calls it “the tea of peace”.

The declared ingredients are tea, flavouring, safflower, marigold flower and rose; the blend may contain traces of nuts. The fruit is therefore present through its fragrance, while the orange and pink petals scatter across the green leaf and give the blend its garden-like appearance. It carries the Jardin Premier label.

The liquor is clear and smooth. Mango and pineapple open, sunny and sweet without marked acidity; then comes the more distinctive note of bael, a fruit with a fragrant pulp still little known in Europe. The flowers lighten the whole, and the green tea, smooth and mellow, keeps the cup fresh and silky, with a fruity finish long enough for a green tea.

It is drunk plain, at any hour: at lunch with Thai cuisine or fish in coconut milk, in the afternoon with an exotic fruit salad or a mango dessert. Infused, then chilled over ice with a few pieces of fresh pineapple, it becomes an iced summer tea much appreciated.

Montagne de Jade is available loose leaf, weighed to order in our Bordeaux and Nice shops, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a pouch designed to preserve its aromas, and in a 100 g black metal tin that is airtight and sealed with a lid, delivered in its gift box. Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and three minutes of infusion, a short time that preserves the freshness of the leaf. Store it away from light and strong odours.