A caffeine-free mint, and red: Rouge Sahara places mint leaves and rose petals on a red rooibos from South Africa, naturally caffeine-free. Mariage Frères says it was only recently created and has already become a must.

Rooibos is a shrub of the Cape whose oxidised needles take on a brick-red colour and yield a gentle infusion, low in tannins. Ingredients: red rooibos, flavouring, mint, rose and calendula; the blend may contain traces of nuts. In the dry leaf, the mint dominates, and one can make out the rose and calendula petals among the needles. The blend carries the Jardin Premier label.

The house describes a contrast, and the cup confirms it: on one side, the soft base that envelops the palate, provided by the rooibos; on the other, the fresh, peppery aromatic notes of the mint, tempered by the floral and sparkling character of the rose. The whole is indulgent without sugar, fresh without coldness, and the rose lingers when the mint has faded.

An evening infusion, it is drunk plain or with a spoonful of honey, alongside an Oriental pastry, a cinnamon orange salad or a few dates. Iced, in a tall glass with fresh mint leaves, it becomes a fragrant summer drink. Children and those who avoid tea in the evening take to it readily.

It is available loose, weighed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a 100 g black metal tin presented in its gift case, and in a case of 30 traditional round cotton muslin sachets, net weight 75 g. Allow 2.5 g of loose leaf, or one muslin sachet, for 20 cl of water at 95 °C, and five minutes of infusion.