Mint tea: loose gunpowder green tea and green tea bags with mint, from Twinings or organic Clipper. Make the sweet, frothy Moroccan tea at home.
Mint tea is an infusion of green tea and fresh mint, sweetened and served in small glasses. It is the drink of welcome in Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania: it is offered to every guest. It is drunk all day long, after meals as well as in the afternoon.
Its base is gunpowder green tea, a Chinese tea whose leaves are rolled into small pellets. The name comes from the way the pellets resemble grains of gunpowder. As they infuse, they open up and release a robust flavour. This tea comes mainly from Zhejiang province in China. It is more robust than a Japanese green tea, which balances the sugar and the mint.
The mint used in Morocco is nana mint, a spearmint with a gentle taste. Green tea spread throughout Morocco in the 19th century, before becoming the national drink. Peppermint, which is stronger, can replace it in small amounts.
The tea is prepared in a metal teapot with a long pouring spout, placed on a tray with the glasses. In winter, some families add dried wormwood, called chiba, in place of part of the mint. The glasses, often coloured and decorated with gilding, are part of the set. In Morocco, it is often the master of the house who prepares and serves the tea.
To prepare it the Moroccan way, choose loose-leaf gunpowder tea, to be combined with fresh mint. The smaller and tighter the pellets, the finer the tea. A 250-gram pack makes several dozen pots of tea.
To save time, ready-to-infuse tea bags already blend green tea and dried mint. Twinings offers a green tea with mint in tea bags; Clipper sells an organic version. One bag is enough for a large cup, with no teapot or strainer. Pyramid-shaped bags leave more room for the leaves to open.
Look at the date on the packet: a recent tea keeps more aroma than one that has been stored for a long time. Choose a size that suits how much you drink, as an opened pack loses its fragrance within a few months. A resealable pack or a metal tin protects the tea better than a paper bag.
If you are sensitive to caffeine, bear in mind that green tea contains some. In the evening, prefer a mint infusion on its own, without tea. A cup of green tea generally contains less caffeine than a cup of coffee.
Allow one tablespoon of tea for a half-litre teapot. First rinse the leaves with a little boiling water, which you throw away, to remove the bitterness. Then add the mint, the sugar and the hot water, and leave to infuse for three to four minutes. Taste a glass, then tip it back into the teapot to mix in the sugar. In Morocco, the amount of sugar is generous; reduce it to your taste.
Serve in small glasses, decorated if possible, pouring from a height to form a foam. Tradition serves three glasses to each guest. Offer them with oriental sweets, such as baklava or halva. For the foam, pour from a height of around thirty centimetres, taking care not to burn yourself. Fill the glasses halfway: that way they stay easy to hold.
Store the tea in an airtight tin, away from light and strong smells, which it absorbs. Keep it away from oriental spices so that they do not flavour the leaves. Fresh mint keeps for three to four days in the fridge, with the stems in a glass of water.
Everything you need for an oriental afternoon treat can be found in our oriental grocery range. In summer, mint tea is also drunk iced: leave the teapot to cool, then pour over ice cubes.
