Would you like some tea with your mint?

Drinking mint tea in Morocco is one of the most common sites and experiences that one will encounter. Not just for tourists, mint tea is a local staple and the tradition has spread north across the ocean to nearby Spain. The popularity of this has ranked Morocco amongst the top tea importers in the world. Made with green tea and fresh mint leaves, this highly caffeinated beverage boasts many health benefits including good digestion, soothing a sore throat and calming the nerves. While cooking is most commonly done by the women in the house, tea preparation is traditionally a man’s job. The ritual preparation or atai varies slightly across the country and the tea is always finished with a heaping helping of sugar! Interesting to note, the more north you are the sweeter the tea normally is. Although at first I found it difficult to drink such a sweet beverage, its sugary taste has long since grown on me and now I always look forward to tea time.

Typical Preparations (courtesy of Wikipedia)

· 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.
· Without stirring, filter the mixture into a different stainless steel pot, so that the tea leaves and coarse powder are removed.
· Add sugar (about one teaspoon per decilitre).
· 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.
· 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.
· Moroccan tea is poured from a silver teapot at distance into a small glass cup. The lengthy pouring should produce a slight foam on the tea.

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 proverb:
Le premier verre est aussi amer que la vie,le deuxième est aussi fort que l'amour,le troisième est aussi doux que la mort. The first glass is as bitter as life,the second glass is as strong as love,the third glass is as gentle as death.