“Buvons dans les joyeuses coupes”, sing Violetta’s lovers to the waltz of La Traviata. Mariage Frères has given the heroine of Verdi’s opera name to an iced black tea with a country bouquet, white flowers and spring violet, from the French Summer Tea collection, created for cold infusion.

The product comes in a hand-blown glossy black glass bottle, on which the name is proclaimed in letters, containing 160 g of tea, with its measuring cap and a box of filter envelopes. The ingredients list includes tea, mallow and flavourings; the blend may contain traces of nuts. It is listed in the catalogue under the Jardin Premier label.

Cold-infused, the black tea loses its tannins and keeps its structure: the liquor is clear, bright, free of bitterness. The floral notes are fresh, the white flowers first, then the violet, velvety and powdery, recognisable, which the house describes as clear and sparkling. It is an iced tea as flowery as a May garden, for those who find fruit iced teas too sweet.

Allow one measuring cap, or 10 g, in a filter envelope, for 1 to 1.5 litres of pure water, refrigerated for one hour at minimum. The bottle makes up to 24 litres. Serve very cold, unsweetened, with a few edible flowers or a strawberry; it accompanies a summer afternoon tea, a white-fruit dessert, or a plate of fresh cheeses.

Brewed tea keeps for two days in the refrigerator in a closed bottle. Keep the bottle closed, away from light and odours, and the house intends this iced tea for summer as well as for the rest of the year.