Tea
Ceremony

Most of the herbs in Morocco are native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Herbal infusions have always been popular in Morocco. Mint grows there particularly well, with mint tea taken for indigestion and as a calmative.

During the Crimean War in 1854, embargoes prevented British tea merchants selling to their usual customers and they looked elsewhere for new markets. Two of these were Tangier and Mogador. The Moroccans embraced tea drinking with enthusiasm, and soon found that the pale greenish brew complemented their favoured mint infusion. The preferred tea is Chinese gunpowder green tea. The teapot (barrad) is similar to that of the British ‘Manchester’ in shape, with a bulbous body, a domed lid and a long spout that is ideal for pouring the tea from a height with accuracy. It is made in silver plate, aluminium or stainless steel.

Besides mint, ingredients such as lemon verbena, saffron, orange blossoms or cinnamon are used in some areas for additional flavour. The type of mint used is very important. In Morocco they use a variety of spearmint that is known as Moroccan mint, Mentha crispa. Its leaves are not as slender as spearmint, M. spicata, and are more crinkled and a deeper green in colour. However spearmint is just as acceptable. Just as important is the tea used; Chinese gunpowder green tea is the preferred tea. Each tea leaf is rolled into a compact, round pellet. An alternative is Hyson; again individual small tea leaves are rolled up and twisted. When the tea is brewing, the tea leaves open up like tiny flower petals, so there is no need to strain it. The mint in the pot does a good job of that anyway.

The tea ceremony is carried out at home after entertaining dinner guests. Equipment is set out on a low, round table – a silver three-legged tray holding patterned tea glasses, a silver teapot, a brass hammer for breaking lumps from the sugar cone, and silver boxes for tea, mint and sugar lumps. With the boiling water from a samovar, the tea is poured into each glass from a height to aerate it. Etiquette decrees that each guest has three glasses. And how do you drink tea from a glass? Grip its rim with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and sip, sip, sip …

Mint tea is served in cafés, poured from a height to create a froth; other purveyors of the brew also provide mint tea to shop owners for their own refreshment, or to seal a deal with a customer. Young men carrying trays with glasses of mint tea are a common sight in the souks, as nearby stallholders also take advantage of this service.