In the teahouses of Canton, it is known as Gook Po Cha: a Pu-Erh flavoured with chrysanthemum flowers, much prized, according to Mariage Frères, by overseas Chinese, who carried it wherever they settled. The house offers it here under the name Pu-Erh d’Outre Mer.

Pu-Erh is the dark tea of Yunnan, a tea whose leaves undergo fermentation and slow maturation that give it its deep colour and its notes of undergrowth. Here, the house has classed it among the aged teas, meaning those whose maturation has been carried to completion. Ingredients: tea, chrysanthemum flower; the blend may contain traces of nuts. In our catalogue it carries the Jardin Premier label.

The liquor is amber and deep, round and enveloping. The taste, according to the house, is that of a mossy, flowery undergrowth: woody and earthy notes of character, softened by the chrysanthemum, whose flower adds a slight floral bitterness and a freshness that lightens the dark tea. No astringency, a velvety texture, a quiet length.

It is drunk during the day and especially at table, where the Cantonese serve it with dim sum, rich dishes and lacquered meats: it is a meal tea par excellence, which also accompanies a mature cheese or a dish in sauce. Plain, always; the leaves withstand several infusions, and you may rinse the first water for a few seconds before infusing.

Allow 2.5 g per 200 ml of water at 95 °C and five minutes of infusion. Pu-Erh d’Outre Mer is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a bag designed to preserve its taste; keep it away from strong odours, as Pu-Erh absorbs them.