Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Making perfect Moroccan mint tea

Bronwen Edwards is an Australian currently spending a few days in Fez. She so enjoyed Moroccan mint tea and wanted to know more about how it is made. With the help of Samira from Riad Laaroussa, who writes the blog "A Moroccan Kitchen", she discovered the best way to get a glass of perfect mint tea was to make it herself.
First things first... find the right mint.


And the best way to test it is to crush some between your fingers and smell the aroma.

Making the tea.

For the basic traditional recipe, you require a metal tea pot that can be heated on a stove or simply a pot. Bring around a pint of water to the boil and add half a handful of green tea leaves (gunpowder tea is excellent)and several sugar lumps according to taste.

Bringing the green tea to the boil
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Bring the water to the boil again and then remove from the heat while you place a large sprig of mint (or a couple of cups of leaves) into the water. It may seem like a lot, but pack it in and bring to the boil again then remove from the heat and let set for a couple of minutes.

Let the mint tea rest.

Pour one tea glass full of tea and then return it to the pot. Repeat this a couple of times. Now the tea is ready. Pour each glass from high enough above the glass to cause the tea to foam a little.

Enjoy!


Tip: Moroccan tea pot handles get very hot, so if you are in Fez, make sure you get a "Dave" - that's the little character pictured above on the pot-holder. For those who want to know why it is called a "Dave" - consult the TV series The League of Gentlemen... all will become clear ( er, maybe.) Daves cost about 20 dirhams


See all our Moroccan recipes here: MOROCCAN MENU!


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11 comments:

Tales From Bradistan said...

It is important to wash the gunpowder tea before adding anything otherwise you will get a lot of dust and the tea will be black

ItsAboutTea said...

This tea sounds so easy to make. Just a few more weeks and the mint will be fresh here. I plan to give this a try. Thanks for a great recipe.

Tottenham homesteader said...

Thanks for this recipe. I just tried it and the family loves it!

Alexander said...

Oh, I love having tea with you all. I would absolutely love some Moroccan mint tea in a gorgeous glass. thank you for shearing your post.

pixen said...

I'm gaming to try this... My friends bought me dried Mint tea but I bet it's not as great as fresh! Now, may I know which type of mint? I know the local mint of Southeast Asia but there's also Spearmint. If not mistaken sometimes Lemon Verbena is used as well in this tea.

Hope you can help out :-) Thank you for sharing the recette!

Anonymous said...

Hi Pixen
Dried mint tea is just that - dried mint - it doesn't have any tea in it. Moroccan mint tea is quite different, as the recipe shows. It's green gunpowder tea with sugar and fresh mint added. It's spearmint that's used in Morocco.
Good luck!

Krizia said...

Thanks for the clear instructions and photos for how to make and serve Moroccan tea! My husband and I just returned from a trip to Marrakech where we bought a teapot and glasses. We've read on TripAdvisor that it may not be safe for drinking because it may lead to lead poisoning. Do you know how to tell if we can drink from our teapot safely? Your advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm 8 months pregnant and we don't want to take any risks with the baby :)

2727 said...

Hello,

Thanks for the useful advice on making mint tea. We just returned from Morocco and bought mint tea leaves but I now realize I have no idea how to make the tea. Do I mix the dried mint leaves with regular tea, or is it OK to just use the dried mint leaves?

Thank you!
Valentina

The View From Fez said...

Hi Valentina,
It is best to make the tea with fresh mint and a little gunpowder tea.

Vivian Ackerman said...

Do I really have to wash the gunpowder tea even when it is packed

Anon! said...

I used to have a bunch of those teapot handle covers when I had my Moroccan husband, but moving about so much, I've lost them. Any idea where to get them? My beret burns my hand even after the tea had cooled.