Mint tea is very popular in Morocco and is one of the main parts of Morocco cuisine. It is also a culture of hospitality in the country. Mint tea is a sweet beverage, which is served by the families of the country with or without food. All the guests who arrive in a family are served with this kind of tea. It is a Moroccan culture of honoring the guest based on the Islamic etiquette. If unexpected guests arrive in a family, they welcome him with the mint tea. The guests also have to take the tea to avoid offending the host.
Here are the ways of making and serving tea:
Teapots, glasses and tray for serving:
Moroccan teapot is engraved and is used for serving tea. Along with it, tea glasses and serving tray are also a part of serving. Moats of the families in the country have one or more such trays, teapots, and glasses, which are used for special occasions. For daily use, they have all these serving items. The teapots available in the country can be directly put on fire. This is a traditional way of making tea. The tea glasses are of three to four ounces and all these items can be purchased either from shops or online.
Mint and green gunpowder tea:
The people of Morocco prefer Chinese gunpowder green tea. The gunpowder means that the tea leaves are dried and compressed into the form of tiny pellets. The quality of the pellets depends on how compact they are. If there is sheen on these pellets, it shows that they are fresh.
Along with all these, fresh spearmint is also used, which is called na’na in Morocco. Many varieties of spearmint are available in the country. These varieties depend on the time of the year and the areas where they are available. Besides these, many other aromatic herbs are also used to give a strong taste and smell to the tea. These herbs include lemon verbena, sage, wormwood, etc.
Sugar:
The taste of the tea is sweet and people have to add sugar for the sweet flavor. There are two forms of sugars that Moroccan people use and these include sugar cone and sugar bricks. The weight of the sugar cone is two kilograms while each sugar brick weighs thirty grams. There are satiations when both these forms are not available. People should know that three bricks of sugar are equal to seven tablespoons of granulated sugar, which can be used to sweeten a large pot of tea.
Making tea:
Rinse the teapot with little water. Add gunpowder tea into the teapot and pour a small amount of boiling water. After the tea leaves are set, pour the tea in the glass. This liquid is called spirit, which should be kept aside.
Now wash the tea leaves with a glass of water. Wash other ingredients like mint leaves and other herbs that are to be used in flavoring the tea. After washing the mint and the herbs, take the pot and fill it with water. The quantity of the water should fill 2/3 portion of the pot. Put the pot over the flame so that heating starts. Add the spirit to the pot. When the water starts boiling, add mint leaves to the teapot and wait till all of them settle down. The next step is to add sugar. Now leave the mixture till it comes to boil. The tea is now ready for serving.
Wrapping up:
Moroccan tea glasses are used to serve the mint tea to the guests. The tea can be made in the teapot and served on the glasses whose capacity can be three or four ounces.