Maghrebi mint tea

A Moroccan friend taught me their classic tea as they practices daily. This Maghrebi mint tea is traditionally a man’s affair: prepared by the head of the family. It is served to guests, and it is impolite to refuse it. The traditional method of preparing this as:

1. In a teapot, combine two teaspoons of tea-leaf with half a litre of boiling water. Allow it to steep for at least fifteen minutes.
2. Without stirring, filter the mixture into a different stainless steel pot, so that the tea leaves and coarse powder are removed.
3. Add sugar (about one teaspoon per 100 millilitres).
4. Bring to boil over a medium heat. This important step in the preparation process allows the sugar to undergo hydrolysis, giving the tea its distinctive taste.
5. If desired, add fresh mint leaves to the teapot or directly to the cup. Remember to remove the mint within two minutes, as it can give some people acid reflux.

Traditionally the tea is served three times, and the amount of time the tea has been steeping gives each of the three glasses of tea a unique flavor, described in this famous Algerian proverb

Le premier verre est aussi doux que la vie,
le deuxième est aussi fort que l’amour,
le troisième est aussi amer que la mort.

The first glass is as gentle as life,
the second glass is as strong as love,
the third glass is as bitter as death.

I obviously don’t have the Moroccan tea pot set, then I use the Japanese cast iron teapot so it can hold the heat well. I skip the traditional method and using my own way to do this.

• Handful of peppermint leave (about 100g, I like it strong)
• 2 tea bag of green tea or you could use English tea (because I had finish my green tea, then I use English tea about 10g)
• 3 tsp of sugar (I like settle and mild sweetness,  I use 1 teaspoon instead)
• Boiling water about 300ml

1. Before you start making the tea, the basic of it as you should warm your cups and pot by rinsing with hot water, and to keep the teapot and cups warm all the time by fill it with boiling water. Set aside.
2. Put your kettle on, once the boiling water is ready pour out the water from the pot, and put the tea bags, (loose tea leaf if using) and peppermint leaves then let it infuse about 4 minutes, remove the peppermint after 2 minutes. Finally you can add in the sugar. (if using) Served.
3. If you like ice mint tea, after adding sugar and let it cool then you could add ice cube. (this is a modern version for hot climate in Tropical country)

I find this is very interesting and very charming, The art of drinking tea in Moroccan. Every culture has its own said about tea. In England, there are as many way of making a cup of tea properly as there are british residents and all methods involve mysterious and magical warming and stirrings of the pot, exact timings and indivual blends. Up North, they tend to put the tea in first, then add milk; down South they do the reserve and both halves of the country swear blind that theirs is the only way to make tea.

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