In today’s post, I’m going to show you EXACTLY how to make the real Moroccan Mint tea at home.
In fact:
These are the same steps my grandfather uses to make the Moroccan mint everyday, many times a day.
Let’s dive right in.
The authentic Moroccan mint tea recipe is really hard to find. If you do some research on the internet, you will find hundreds of recipes that claim to be authentic.
Unfortunately, most of them are not and most of the mint tea served in hotels is made the fast way not the traditional way.
So how to make authentic Moroccan mint tea? What tea leaves to use? What teapot is the best? and what are the requirements..
It might look complicated to make the original Moroccan tea but, trust me, it’s really not.
The preparation of mint tea is quite an art in Morocco and making authentic Moroccan mint tea is neither complicated nor expensive. All it takes is 3 ingredients and less than 10 minutes of preparation.
Once you make it to your friends or family, I can assure they will yearn for your invitations. The mixture of green tea and mint, will take you across borders and plunge you into the heart of the land of the setting sun.
As a Moroccan, mint tea is part of my everyday life as it is for the majority of Moroccans. It’s the symbol of family and friend gatherings and the first thing prepared to welcome guests.
The smell of this aromatic tea announces a good moment of happiness, joy, and human connection.
The mint tea has the particularity of being prepared by men to drink very hot, and it is considered to be an art passed down through generations.
It's prepared with high finesse following a definite ceremony. The host would bring a portable gas stove, all the equipment and ingredients to the guest's room and entertain them while preparing tea.
Nowadays, The preparation of the Moroccan mint tea is no longer restricted to men only, women have joined the party of making it.
If you already had an authentic mint tea in Morocco, you probably noticed it is poured from a height.
Pouring Moroccan mint tea from a height is an important part of the Moroccan tea ceremony.
The higher the tea is poured, the more foam you will get on top of your drink and the more it shows that you respect your guest.
Nothing better than to prepare a good Moroccan tea to spend a pleasant afternoon with family or friends and travel to Morocco from the comfort of your home, so let's see how to make this magical drink...
The ingredients are fresh mint, sugar, water and gunpowder tea.
Moroccan mint tea is traditionally very sweet but you can adjust the quantity of sugar to your taste, I personally drink it sugar free.
You can also flavor your Moroccan tea with any other aromatic herb that you like such as verbena, sage and geranium.
To make the traditional Moroccan mint tea, you will need a Moroccan teapot or a heat-resistant teapot because you need to actively infuse the tea leaves in boiling water for many minutes.
Buying my teapot in the Medina of Marrakech
A regular teapot cannot support the stove’s heat and will break.
If you don’t have a Moroccan tea pot yet, you still can start learning how to make the Moroccan tea in a regular tea pot, just use a small tea sifter when pouring the tea from a regular tea pot - Be aware that you won't get the same results as when using the Moroccan tea pot.
If you want to learn more about how to choose and buy the Moroccan teapot, I invite you to have a look at my detailed guide on how to choose the perfect Teapot!
To make the authentic Moroccan mint tea, you will need the Chinese green gunpowder loose tea and for the mint, you can go with the peppermint or Spearmint.
As many brands use radiated and low-quality leaves, I recommend that you choose organic gunpowder tea, and for the mint, I personally grow it in a small pot in my balcony.
Growing Mint tea at home
The preparation of the traditional Moroccan tea is slightly different in the Sahara Desert.
Nomads use small enameled metal teapots, placed directly on the fire and filled with tea, water and sugar.
The Saharan mint tea is known to be the strongest Moroccan tea and three rounds of tea are traditionally offered to the guest: the first one is said to be “bitter as death”, the second “strong as life” and the third “sweet as love” as sugar precipitates at the bottom of the teapot.
You can decorate your glasses and obtain a stronger fresh mint aroma by adding a few mint leaves inside.
Growing Mint tea at home
This is a typical Moroccan tea service with an engraved Moroccan teapot (Berrad), Moroccan tea glasses, and a serving tray.
Every Moroccan family owns at least one or two fine tea services.
