Let it never be said that nothing good has ever come from drinking very expensive tea. If I had not been exploring the shelves of Mariage Freres the other day, I would probably never have learned about Alexandra David-Néel, a fascinating woman after whom Mariage Freres has named one of their teas – the tea for adventurers.

Alexandra was born in France in 1868 and moved to Brussels, of all places, when she was 6. She died in 1979, the the age 101. In-between, she managed to be the first European woman to travel to Tibet and speak to Dalai lama; tour Indochina as a prima donna and sing the roles of Carmen and La Traviata; possibly be a lover (or, according to alternative sources, a companion) of an Indian prince; adopt a young buddhist monk and live in a cave for two years, in search of enlightenment.

She also wrote 30 books about her travels and research. I have not read them and considering that she apparently describes things like telepathy, levitation and other mystic experiences of the East, I’m not sure I will. I can be described as many things, but spiritual is not one of them. But I’m seriously considering reading her biography by Foster and Foster, The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel – to learn more about the woman herself. A life (and a mind) that encompasses an anarchist treatise – written when 21 years old – and the study and translation of rare religious texts, is certainly worth knowing better.

The tea, by the way, makes much more sense when you know something about the inspiration behind it. It is in fact a chai based on Chinese black tea, but a somewhat unusual one: it has the spices (pepper, clove, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom), but it’s also fruity and when you drink it, the taste is almost mellow. And then comes the kick, an aftertaste full of pepper and ginger. A mellow-peppery tea, a contradiction in terms, much like Mrs David-Néel.

It is a tea that you can drink both with or without milk, I prefer the latter, but this is how I usually drink any chai. In normal circumstances I’d say it’s better for the colder months, but with the spring we are having, it seems exactly right this very moment. If you’re a person who likes to spend your rainy afternoons with an adventure story and/or composing feminist rants in your head, this tea is an excellent companion.