Recipe Store

Culinary Vacations for Lovers of Food and Wine

Spectacular, charming, Moroccan Mint Tea.

Recipe compliments of the Tea Caravan’s Veronika Lyde

Atay Bi Nahna is the national drink of Morocco.  Shopkeepers and even street vendors carting their portable urns are more than happy to invite you to savor a glass of tea with them.  Commonly served at the end of a meal, sharing the splendors of tea with friends, family members and even total strangers is one of the most important rituals of the day. 

In 1854, British merchants seeking alternate markets due to the Baltic Sea blockade caused by the Crimean War introduced tea to both Tangiers and Mogador. Once they had made their presentation to the sultan and his entourage, it was love at first taste! They were instantly seduced.

Tea service sets for the Moroccan tea ceremony are easily identifiable by their elaborately engraved sterling silver pots with their unique long, elegant pouring spouts.  These curvaceous teapots are perfect for allowing the tea to flow into equally beautiful hand-painted glasses, called a rabat, from heights of half a meter or more.

Be sure to treat your guests to three glasses each: the first represents life, bitter; the second is like love, sweet; and the third is like death; gentle.

Sipping a fragrant glass (never porcelain) of this exquisite elixir will whisk your senses to sultrier climes ensuring you shake off once and for all those final vestiges of winter.

To Prepare:

Boil some water.

Place about a tablespoon of gunpowder tea into a silver or enameled teapot.

Cover the leaves with a first pouring of water that you will immediately pour back out.

Add a large quantity of mint leaves, removing the stems to avoid bitterness.

Pour water on the tea.

Put in five to seven sugar cubes (per two cups).

Pour into a small Moroccan glass before pouring the contents back into the teapot to mix the ingredients well.

Repeat this procedure three times.

Steep for four to five minutes, and then pour from a height to aerate the tea.

If you wish, you may garnish with fresh mint, and jasmine or orange blossom flowers.

(©Recipe adapted from The Tea Box)

Veronika from the Tea Caravan can be contacted via email at theteacaravan@yahoo.com. 

If you have questions about any of these recipes don’t hesitate to ask us – the recipes are in the chef’s own words.