Moroccan tea - composition, recipes, traditions

September 11, 2015

Tea drinking is a very ancient tradition. All over the world there is a trend towards an increase in the total number of tea clubs. Chinese and Japanese tea traditions are extremely popular. However, they are quite common in our area, which cannot be said about the Moroccan tradition of drinking the aromatic drink.

It has not been established for certain how exactly the art of tea drinking came to Morocco. Several possible prerequisites are known:

in the Muslim religion it is forbidden to drink drinks;
Berber peoples led a nomadic lifestyle;
Morocco has unique climatic conditions.

It is enough to analyze the statistical data to come to logical conclusions - Morocco leads the world in terms of tea imports. Note that it was the Moroccans who were the first to import into the country from China. Tea is widespread in the country; in fact, it has become a traditional drink. Even in the poorest Bedouin tent they will certainly offer you a cup of aromatic drink.

Moroccan culture pays special attention to its own tradition of tea drinking; it is not surprising that a unique Moroccan tea, supplemented with it, has appeared in the country. The drink is consumed during work, relaxation, and pleasant pastime. The drink is traditionally served in a small silver teapot, in tandem with mint, sugar or figs. It is customary to drink tea exclusively from small glasses.

Beneficial features

Moroccan tea is a very healthy drink that can have a positive effect on the condition of the human body. How is it useful?

It contains a large amount of antioxidants and flavonoids.
Eliminates abdominal cramps.
Relieves pain due to indigestion.
Mint (an integral component of Moroccan tea) improves the condition of enamel and bones.
Eliminates muscle pain by relieving excess tension.

If you supplement the tea with any other ingredients, you can improve its positive properties. You shouldn’t limit yourself here; you need to rely on your own taste.

Moroccans spend a lot of time drinking tea, so it is not surprising that they have developed their own traditions of enjoying this drink.

Features of brewing the drink:

Green tea should be poured into a teapot (only tin and silver vessels are used).
The first brew must be drained.
Afterwards, the tea is poured again and the kettle is placed on low heat. Next, gradually add sugar (to taste), anise, cinnamon stick, mint, star anise.
The liquid is constantly stirred and brought to a boil. When the kettle just starts to boil, add lime or lemon juice to it, you can also add a few pieces of peel.

There is nothing complicated in the recipe and brewing of Moroccan tea, and almost anyone can handle this process. However, in the homeland of the drink, women are under no circumstances allowed to participate in this activity.

To enrich the drink with oxygen, it is poured from a teapot into a mug from a height of about 1 meter. Pouring tea in this way is a real art, which not every fan of the aromatic drink can cope with.

Tea ceremony

The description of the Moroccan tea ceremony is reminiscent of oriental fairy tales

. One metal teapot with engraving is worth it!

The ceremony is performed exclusively by men. Their task is to fill a glass with tea so that foam forms in it (ideally there should be half a glass of foam). This can be done by raising the kettle higher.

Aerobatics is considered to be the ability to hold a kettle above your head and pour the drink for a long time, in a thin stream. Real art. Taking into account the fact that not a drop can be spilled.

According to experts, this is not just a beautiful ceremony, it is also an opportunity to saturate the drink with a large amount of oxygen - this will make it especially beneficial for health.

The guest of honor is usually offered three glasses of tea; it is impossible to refuse the treat - it is impolite. Luckily, the glasses are filled to about half full with mint tea.

If someone is served a glass filled to the brim with tea, this is not the best sign - the guest is thus made to understand that he is not welcome in this house.

Despite the fact that Moroccan tea is prepared with sugar, sweets are always served with it.

- most often these are a variety of cookies on a beautiful, metal, like a teapot, dish.

It is not difficult to prepare Moroccan tea at home, the main thing is to choose natural, fresh ingredients for it.

In this case, it will be not only tasty, but also a healing drink, because it uses such useful plant materials as mint, cinnamon, thyme or some other components that you add to the drink as an experiment.

How to make Moroccan tea:

Herbal teas are quite in demand because they have healing effects and great taste. More and more new teas are appearing on the market, which immediately attract the attention of fans of this drink. Today, Moroccan mint is popular, on the basis of which the raw materials for its preparation are also made.

It is characterized by many beneficial properties, and the taste is fresh. This is the reason for its popularity in many countries, including Europe.

Among many other advantages, Morocco is famous for the cultivation of mint. This tradition in the country is long-standing. All over the world, this plant, brought from Morocco, is in great demand because it has the best taste and unique aroma.

Its taste is a little bitter, but pleasant, the aftertaste is felt for a long time, and the smell immediately makes you want to try a drink from the plant.

In Morocco, mint has long been used as a medicine that can relieve and prevent a host of ailments. The tradition of preparing special tea, which became the hallmark of the country, was born here. It is prepared according to a special recipe, and its composition includes green tea, mint, and sugar.

From the very first years of its existence, this recipe spread throughout the African continent and parts of the Arab countries, and a little later its fans were found in Europe, however, here they prefer to drink tea cold.

However, the bulk of the drink’s fans still live in the homeland of this recipe. Here it has a special meaning. If you are in Morocco and a home serves you Moroccan green mint tea, know that you are an honored guest in that home.

Traditionally, it is the man who cooks for the guests and serves the drink, despite the fact that cooking in this country is an exclusively female activity. The owner will serve at least 3 cups of this treat as a sign of his hospitality. Don’t even think about refusing - you will greatly offend the owner of the house.

Today, this tonic and refreshing substance is used almost everywhere, and relatively recently it has gained popularity in our latitudes.

In our country, as in European countries, many drink it chilled, and Chinese tea of various varieties is used as a base with Moroccan mint. The plant goes well with any of them.

It is also used as an independent raw material for brewing a drink.

Benefit

The effect of the fragrant plant on the body has been known for a long time, because it is not in vain that the herb is so widely used in folk medicine.

Moroccan mint has the following properties:

Helps improve immunity;
Has a relaxing effect;
Stabilizes blood pressure;
Has a beneficial effect on the heart and blood vessels, dilating them;
Improves the functioning of the digestive system.

The plant and drinks made from it are valued for their cooling effect. In the summer heat, they are an indispensable means of helping to freshen up. In addition, Moroccan tea, which is prepared with mint, helps relieve stress. It relieves spasms by relaxing muscles.

The herb is also useful for the female reproductive system, because it can soften the symptoms of PMS.

Nervousness, headaches - it also helps to cope with these problems.

There is an opinion that men are not recommended to get carried away with this herb, because it reduces testosterone levels, thereby having a detrimental effect on potency. Studies have shown that excessive consumption can indeed cause hormonal imbalance in a man, but we are only talking about excess consumption.

Such negative properties of mint are refuted by their example by Eastern men, who happily use it with tea every day, and at the same time do not experience problems with male power.

If a man decides to relax after a hard day at work, a cup of tea won’t hurt.

Below are drink recipes that you can use to make delicious tea.

Classic

Moroccans use this recipe:

Pour 2 tsp into the kettle. raw materials, and then fill it with boiling water in the amount of 0.5 liters. Let the liquid sit for a quarter of an hour;
Pour the liquid into another stainless steel container. In this case, you need to use a filter, but you do not need to stir the components first;
Add sugar. According to the recipe, the dosage of sugar is 1 tsp/100 ml, but you can add it to your taste;
Let the green tea drink boil until the sugar dissolves;
You can add mint to the teapot with liquid, or you can put it in each cup separately. The amount of grass can be any.

According to the classic recipe, you need to pour the drink into a cup from a height of at least 50 cm so that it “opens.”

With Chinese tea

For preparation, you can take Chinese tea, which usually has a rich, very pleasant taste.

The proportions can be taken from the previous recipe:

Mix mint and tea, pour boiling water into the mixture, drain the water immediately;
Repeat the procedure as many times as necessary until the liquid becomes clear.
Infuse Chinese mint tea for a few minutes.
Express the liquid.

In different teapots

This method is very simple. It consists of several simple steps:

Brew mint.
Brew tea (you can follow the previous recipe).
Let the liquids brew, express;
Combine the liquids in one container.

Coffee

This drink can also be prepared with a plant such as Moroccan mint. It is prepared very simply:

Brew coffee according to the usual recipe;
Add the herb to it and let it brew for a few minutes.

Coffee can also be consumed chilled, and by adding cold milk, cream or just ice, you will get a real mocha with mint flavor.

Please note that to prepare coffee according to this recipe you need to use high-quality raw materials, otherwise the taste will be spoiled.

Storage

It must be correct so that the grass does not spoil. This requires conditions such as normal humidity so that it does not become damp.

As a rule, for long-term storage it is dried, since fresh grass fades quite quickly. However, when dried, it does not become less aromatic and tasty.

Some people grow grass at home. Usually we are talking about an ornamental plant, but sometimes on the windows of ordinary apartments and houses you can also find varieties such as peppermint, lemon mint, and fragrant mint. At the same time, Moroccan and other types of mint are quite picky about the conditions they are kept in, so the process of growing it is very labor-intensive.

Drink healthy and tasty drinks with a beautiful and aromatic gift of nature to keep your nervous system and health in order. By the way, according to Moroccan tradition, mint tea should be consumed with sweets, which will appeal to lovers of such delicacies.

Contraindications

Despite all the positive properties, Moroccan tea also has certain contraindications. If we are talking about a drink with mint, then you should abstain from it:

mothers who breastfeed their children;
in case of low blood pressure;
for kidney and liver diseases;
children under 6 years of age.

People who have difficulty urinating should also avoid this drink.

When purchasing Moroccan tea, you should exercise extreme caution - it cannot be cheap. If they try to sell you a drink at the price of regular black or green tea, refuse such a purchase. Only real Moroccan tea will allow you to feel the real aroma and taste of the eastern world with its unique traditions.

Share your favorite tea recipe with the readers of our site!

It turns out that Morocco is the leader among all countries in the world in purchasing tea. Yes, in this country they drink no less tea than in China, which is quite surprising. The Moroccan tea ceremony is slightly different from the classical Chinese one. It should be noted that they always drink tea here: when they are relaxing, during a break at work, and when they invite someone to visit them, the owners are simply obliged to serve tea!

Most of all, Moroccans loved Gunpowder tea (you can read an article about this tea), which residents drank for a very long time, and still drink. But this variety is no longer as popular as before, because now they drink Moroccan tea

. This is not surprising, because in such a country they should have come up with something of their own long ago.

Description of the drink

Moroccan tea is a famous drink that allows the indigenous people of Morocco to show a loyal attitude towards travelers and hospitality. The infusion is served during any feast. If a person does not want to offend the owner of the house, it is recommended to drink at least three cups of prepared tea.

The drink pleases with a calm, refreshing taste, in which you can find notes of mint and sweetness. The composition, first of all, includes high-quality green tea leaves, delivered from the best plantations in China. Any recipe involves the use of mint, which sets the main taste. The mint must be fresh.

Moroccan mint tea recipe

Pour green tea into the teapot (only silver or tin teapots are used here).
We drain the first brew as usual.
Then pour our tea again and put it on the fire, add sugar, mint, cinnamon stick, star anise and anise.
Stir gradually and bring to a boil. When the tea is about to boil, squeeze in the juice of a lemon or lime; the peel can also be added to the tea.
Remove from heat - the tea is ready.

As you may have noticed, there is nothing unusual in this recipe, but the taste of the tea is very different from other teas.
Almost anyone can prepare Moroccan tea at home. It should also be noted that in Morocco girls are not allowed to prepare tea. Only men do this here. Tea is poured from a teapot into cups from a height of about a meter. This is done to enrich the drink with oxygen. In fact, this is even an art, because pouring tea this way is very difficult. In Russia, some bartenders and waiters in teahouses do this. If foam forms in the cup, then this is very good. Foam in Morocco is considered a sign that a guest is welcome in the house.

Many people may be skeptical about the Moroccan tea recipe, calling it ordinary mint tea. To fully understand the differences between these recipes, we suggest you read two more articles: and.

On the issue of buying Moroccan tea

Many people wonder “where to buy Moroccan tea
.” It is, of course, not cheap. If you are one of these people, then I advise you to just buy Moroccan mint and lime. These ingredients are quite enough and they will cost much less than buying tea, and besides, the joy of making tea yourself will not leave you for a long time. As for whether your loved ones will like it or not - don’t worry - they will definitely like it!

The history of Moroccan tea begins in the middle of the 19th century, when a certain British merchant, due to hostilities breaking out here and there, was forced to change his route and ended up with a cargo of Chinese gunpowder tea in Morocco.

He did not take it to its destination, but sold it completely at the place of forced stop. So the merchant discovered a new market, and the people of Morocco discovered an unusual type of tea.

On its basis, a recipe for mint tea was born, which became popular in northern Africa - Algeria, Tunisia, and, of course, Morocco, as well as in southern Europe - Spain and France.

They called the mint drink “Moroccan tea.” It also has other names: Tunisian tea, Tuareg tea, Maghreb tea (after the names of those regions where the drink is most widespread.

How is the tea ceremony performed?

In Morocco, only men are allowed to perform the ceremony. The culinary process is distinguished by an original approach, despite the simple composition of the drink. In each case, during the ceremony, a unique idea and a responsible approach, the presence of worthy knowledge and the desire for excellence are noted, as a result of which each invited person remains surprised and is in a good mood.

To brew tea, it is customary to use metal utensils, the shape of which resembles Aladdin’s magic lamp. Foam is expected to appear in the glass. To achieve a similar effect, the teapot is raised high above the glass being used, after which the infusion is poured in a very thin stream.

If a person has reached the required level of skill, the drink can be poured even from a height, with the kettle held above his head. During such a trick, it is possible to preserve the infusion without losing even the slightest drop. This supply technology allows the tea to receive the optimal amount of oxygen. Ideally, tea should have a thick, fluffy foam.

This result can be achieved only if the process of brewing and preparing the drink is carried out correctly.

Moroccan tea – what is it?

This drink uses Moroccan mint

. Growing up under the hot African sun, it has an advantage over its European counterparts because it contains more menthol and essential oils.

In addition, the plant is very beautiful - it has corrugated leaves.

Moroccan tea is a unique brand of the country, a symbol of its hospitality. It is sold in shops, cafes and shops.

For a very modest fee, in different cities of Morocco you can quench your thirst with a glass of refreshing tea right on the street.

Moroccan tea recipes

Recipes for making tea from Morocco differ from each other not only in the addition of one or two new ingredients, but also in the technology of brewing tea.

In one case, tea and mint are boiled together, in the other - in different teapots: mint and tea leaves separately, and then both drinks are combined.

An indispensable condition for preparing Moroccan tea is the presence of a metal teapot; any other utensils are simply not suitable, because they will need to be placed on fire.

Classic recipe

To brew tea according to the classic recipe, you need to start with traditional green tea. It is infused for a quarter of an hour, then, after filtering the tea leaves, it is poured into another kettle of larger volume.

Put sugar there and put the kettle on the stove - the sugar should dissolve completely.

Shortly before the end of cooking, add mint leaves to the kettle - the more, the better. Sometimes mint is placed directly into a glass and poured boiling water from a teapot over it. By the way, glasses should be tall.

There is another way to prepare classic tea, it is based on the rinsing method

(this is what experts call “multi-stage” brewing). Four to five rinses should be done.

The water of the first brew is not poured out; it is believed that it contains the “spirit of tea”, which must be returned to the finished drink.

If we ignore the mysticism, the first brew is especially valued for the high percentage of essential oils it contains. It is the first brew that determines how aromatic and tasty the final drink will be.

But the water from the second and subsequent brews is not used (too many tannins are concentrated in it).

When the rinsing is completed and the first brew is returned to the kettle, it is put back on the fire and brought to a boil, sugar and mint are added.

Cinnamon

This tea is prepared not only with cinnamon, but also with cloves, orange and lemon.

Citrus fruits must be zested and cut into thin strips. You need to squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Mint leaves need to be slightly crushed in your hands.

For this recipe, burnt sugar is required, it is prepared as follows: pour granulated sugar into a frying pan and make sure that the sugar crystals dissolve and it turns brown.

In addition to the tea leaves, add mint, zest strips, sugar, cinnamon and cloves to the teapot, add lemon juice and pour boiling water. Place on the stove to bring the drink to a boil.

It will be possible to pour into glasses no earlier than after 20 minutes, since the tea will have to brew properly. Place a fresh mint leaf in each glass.

You will find information about cinnamon tea, its benefits, and recipes.

With star anise

Place mint and green tea leaves in the teapot, as well as a cinnamon stick.

The star anise along with the anise seeds should be crushed in a mortar and also put into the kettle.

In addition, pour the juice of one lemon or lime (your choice) into the kettle and add a crust of some citrus fruit.

Pour boiling water over it and you can drink the drink after ten minutes.

With thyme

Tea and mint leaves, as well as thyme, are poured with boiling water in a kettle, adding granulated sugar. After this, the kettle is kept on low heat for 20 minutes to allow the drink to simmer.

It will be good both hot and cold - it will perfectly quench your thirst on a hot summer day.

Classic recipe.

The classic recipe allows you to understand how wonderful tea from Morocco can be, without additional ingredients.

First you need to process the tea leaves poured into the teapot.
Pour in 200 milliliters of boiled water.
To rinse used leaves, you need to rotate the container.
After this, drain the water.
Add fresh mint, and to achieve a balanced taste, use sugar to add sweetness.
After this, the mixture can be poured with boiled water.
The kettle needs to be put on fire, waiting for the water with the ingredients to boil.
It is recommended to cool using classical technology.
After which you can pour the drink into cups decorated with mint.