12 steps to the most perfect Moroccan tea.
Moroccan tea
Moroccan Tea – Written by Tayeb Lmoudn
The memory of Moroccan tea lingers long after you return home from your holiday. But, like a tagine, it’s not that easy to re-create – until now!
Tayeb makes it possible with;
The Ultimate 12 Steps to Perfect Moroccan Tea.
When you hear that, expect to see green gunpowder tea, metallic teapot, and a flavoring herb such as mint, chamomile, artemisia absinthium or saffron and some other mixed herbs you can find at herbalists.
Moroccans usually put artemisia absinthium in tea in the winter because it’s a warm herb and mint mostly in summer time because of how fresh it is. Chamomile and the other herbs are four seasons consuming herbs. Saffron is used to give tea this amber looking color and relax your nerves, but some Moroccans claim that its good for sexual performance. Also, the acacia tree that grows in desert is known to produce this jelly sap, it’s also called acacia and it’s the ingredient that is responsible for the bubbles’ consistency in tea when poured into a glass.
Tea is the most consumed drink in Morocco. It gets served hot in tea glasses which are only halfway filled and with bubbles on top, just like beer with the head. The texture of the bubbles feels so good on your lips, just like champagne. It is usually served in a fancy teapot and small fancy glasses too and a golden or silver or wooden tray that has two beautiful traditional looking containers on it, one for sugar and the other for gunpowder tea. Typically it is served with cookies, sweets, dry fruits and nuts but is also served during meals.
Saharian tea is the best as all Moroccans agree because it’s made on coals so it is pretty slow boiled and they grind acacia into powder and put it in tea so it makes bubbles like foam in a washing machine.
To prepare authentic Moroccan tea, please follow these steps below.
1-Put water in a kettle and bring it to boil.(1,5Litres)
2-Put 2tbs of gunpowder tea into the teapot.(4 people)
3-Pour about a tea glass of water in the teapot and then let it sit for a minute, then pour it back into a glass and keep it, it’s called ROUH ATAY which means spirit of tea because it has the first burst of tea flavor.
4-Pour another tea glass of boiled water into the teapot and twirl it inside the pot. So the tea will bleed. After swirling for like 30s, then discard the dark olive looking liquid from the teapot. We don’t use it. (Tshallila which means a rinse).
5-Refill the teapot with boiled water but this time 3 quarters should be filled up while tea leaves are still in the pot and return the pot back to the low heat or fire to bring the water back to a slow boil.
6-When the water is about to boil over the top be prepared to lift the teapot off the heat or fire. You will have to do this frequently about 5 times.
7-Then put the proper flavoring herb, or a bunch of mint as you wish in a glass or direct in the pot, then pour tea on it, also pour it in other like 2 or 3 glasses.
8-Pour the glass that contains the herb and tea first in the teapot then, the other glasses after it, in order to stir it.
9-Then put sugar by choice.
10-Pour tea again from teapot, into the glasses you have, then pour back from the glasses into the teapot to stir sugar, you have to repeat it 5 times.
11-To pour tea, raise up your hand high while pouring so you can make bubbles.
12-Then “Bessaha o raha” means enjoy and go ahead and sip loudly, the Moroccan way.
Note: ⚠️Never put sugar before the flavoring item, if you put sugar first then the flavoring item, it gets burnt and taste bad because sugar keeps tea hot or even maybe hotter⚠️.
There is this saying about Moroccan tea; “Dokka bardahsen man 100 naga walda”. Means “A cold mouthful is better than a 100 camel”.
Do you have any more sayings about Moroccan tea? Please share, we’d love to hear them.