Moroccan tea: the secret of a traditional warming drink
Each country has its own tea traditions and recipes. Some of them are famous all over the world, others are less popular, but, no doubt, also deserve attention. Such as, for example, fine Moroccan tea. This drink with mint got its name (as you can easily understand) from the name of the country where it began to be prepared and the recipe was perfected. In Europe, it is also known as Maghrebi mint tea.
How to make Moroccan tea
There are only 4 main components in traditional Moroccan tea: water, mint leaves, green tea, and sugar. You can also add spices and citrus slices (lemon/lime/orange) to make the drink taste even warmer and richer. They should be added at the last stage, along with mint. And although this recipe differs from the canonical one, it is this version of Moroccan tea that is most famous all over the world.
Classic Moroccan tea ceremony
To brew this popular African drink, you will need. First of all, green Chinese tea (ideally a gunpowder), a bunch of fresh mints, sugar, hot water, a 500 ml Moroccan teapot and, for complete authenticity, a tray and special beautiful glasses made of glass.
Pour two teaspoons of green tea with a glass of boiling water and immediately drain the resulting liquid. So you have rinsed out the dust from the tea leaves.
Now refill the teapot with the leaves with one glass of hot water and let it brew for about a minute. Then pour the resulting tea leaves into a teacup and set aside on the tray for a while. This is not just a liquid, it is the “soul” of your future tea.
On the washed tea leaves, put a bunch of mint and sugar (Moroccans put 1 teaspoon in 100 milliliters of water) and, if desired, spices.
Return the “soul” of tea to the kettle – the very first tea leaves that remained in your glass. Top up with hot water to the top of the kettle. It is important that not a single mint leaf is left uncovered by the water.
Put the kettle on the fire and bring it to a boil. Let the tea simmer for a couple of minutes to caramelize the sugar, this will give the drink a special “Moroccan” flavor.
If you did everything right, you should have a refreshing and warming drink at the same time, with a bright minty flavor and a pleasant sweetness. In Morocco, it is customary to serve the drink three times. And although the tea leaves were extracted at the very beginning. Thanks to the presence of mint, the infusion becomes more and more saturated each time.
Easier recipe for beginners
If you want to indulge yourself with an exotic African Moroccan tea, but do not want to delve into long rituals and buy special dishes, you can choose an abbreviated version.
- Brew green tea in a teapot.
- Put mint, sugar, and spices in a mug or jug.
- Add infused green tea (filtered, without leaves) to the spices and add boiling water to the desired volume.
- Let the drink sit for 5-10 minutes.
In this form, Moroccan tea is prepared very quickly and also turns out to be very tasty.
How is it?
The main components of the drink are green tea and mint, therefore “maghribi tea” has all the beneficial qualities of these two products.
From green tea, he got invaluable amino acids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which prolong our life and improve our health. Among other things, they help to strengthen the heart, reduce the risk of developing diabetes and oncology, give us vigor and calmness, increase the level of immunity and reduce anxiety.
Moroccan tea takes from mint the ability to have antimicrobial, antitumor, antioxidant and antispasmodic effects. It improves digestion, soothes and relieves headaches. This is a good remedy for fighting colds.
Pregnant women and women during lactation should drink Moroccan tea with caution, as mint slows down the formation of milk. Also, this drink is not indicated for hypotensive patients (due to mint in the composition) and children (due to the caffeine content in green tea).
Intrested in a Moroccan tour to try the mint tea?
If you are looking for the best Morocco tours to taste our fresh mint tea, you are on the right place. Marrakech Camel Trips offers the best affordable trips, contact us.
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