How to make Moroccan Mint Tea: recipe, serving and culture

Moroccan mint tea is sweet and flavourful and served piping hot. The powerful scent of mint is to die for. After reading this post, you know how to infuse a small pot of authentic Moroccan Mint tea with simple ingredients, and how to serve and savor it. 

Family is gathered around the tea tray filled with pastries and sweets, a pot of Moroccan mint tea (also called Maghrebi mint tea), and countless small glass cups to enjoy the tea from. The teapot and tray are shining the silvery color and Arabic decorations. It is time for the Moroccan Mint tea, which is a huge part of Moroccans’ everyday life. 

The traditional Moroccan Mint Tea, the staple of Moroccan Cuisine, has only four ingredients: mint, green tea, sugar, and water. That’s it. It is easy to implement at home to enjoy this sweet and delicious hot drink with your family and friends. Moroccan mint tea has also plenty of benefits, starting from its stress-relieving and immune-boosting properties, so there are plenty of reasons to fall in love with this amazing drink. If you prefer iced tea, try my iced Moroccan mint tea recipe.

| RELATED: Best books on tea and Infusions | Find your new favorite!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click on a product or a service and decide to purchase it, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. All the products and services that I recommend are based on my own experience and are things I truly love and believe in. For more information, you can read my full disclaimer.

Tips for making authentic mint tea

• Use fresh mint sprigs if you have them, if you don’t dried ones will do just fine as well.
• Green tea has the best flavor when infused at 75-80°C (167-176°F). If you use too hot water it creates bitterness which we don’t want to!
• The infusion time for the green tea is short only 2-3 minutes, so use a tea sieve or ball to easily take off the green tea leaves when it’s time.
• For the best result use loose-leaf green tea, but green tea bags will work fine too.
• If you feel that you are not a tea drinker, try this one out, for many say that it is the best tea for people who do not like tea at all!

I RELATED: Why does my tea taste bitter? | How to avoid tea bitterness

Does Moroccan mint tea have caffeine in it?

Yes. In Moroccan mint tea, green tea leaves are used, and they contain caffeine. If you want to have caffeine-free you can modify and leave the tea out.

| RELATED: 10 Benefits of Moroccan Mint Tea for your body and mind

What teapot to use for Moroccan mint tea?

The best and most traditional option for making Maghrebi tea is the silver-colored Moroccan teapot made of brass. It is heat-proof and can be used on a gas stove too, which is very common in Moroccan kitchens.

You can also use a ceramic teapot with boiled water from the electric kettle or a stainless steel kettle on the stove.

| RELATED: How to choose and use teapot and tea kettle

When using the brass one, the whole pot heats up, so remember to use the special tea mitt that usually comes with it to not burn your hands. When you pour, hold with the other hand the black rubber part to keep the teapot lid closed.

Tools you may need

• Moroccan teapot (I use one similar to this one) or other teapot that is heatproof to use on the stove
• Measuring spoons
• Tea sieve
• Spoon for stirring
• Small Moroccan tea glasses, or other heatproof glasses for serving
• Tray (optional) for tea glasses and teapot

Moroccan Mint Tea ingredients

Moroccans know the quality, especially what comes to the ingredients. Mint tea is the most common drink in Moroccan everyday life alongside coffee. Though mint tea is mundane, it is never bad or boring when served in Morocco.

Choosing well the ingredients

Below, you find my suggestions for the ingredients to obtain the best result.

| RELATED: Best Books on Tea and Infusions

Gunpowder Green tea

Use good quality unflavored green tea. I prefer the Chinese Temple of Heaven Gunpowder Green Tea. The name comes from the tea leaves used in it, which are rolled into tight tiny pearls. In fact, in Mandarin, they call it “pearl tea“. It is aromatic and naturally slightly sweet. The color of this rolled tea is greyish so no wonder why the English started to call it gunpowder. You can use any type of green tea if you do not have Chinese gunpowder tea at home. Moroccans always use loose tea leaves but feel free to use tea bags if you have them on hand.

Nana mint

In Arabic nana means mint. Usually, the Moroccan spearmint is then called Nana mint. It is strong in flavor and scent and best choice for mint tea. And I can tell you, Moroccans use a lot of mint. Other mint varieties will do fine as well, taste and increase the amount if needed. Use fresh mint sprigs to make the tea the traditional way.

Sugar

Generally in Morocco white sugar is used in the mint tea. They even have bigger blocks of sugar that melt fast in the teapot. You can choose a sweetener of your liking, but notice that some might add a different flavor to your tea. I have tried it with cane sugar and it turned out great too!

Water

Use always fresh water for the best result.

| RELATED: Tea, tisane, herbal tea, decoction: What’s the difference?

How to make Moroccan Mint Tea step-by-step

Step one: Measure ingredients

Measure green tea leaves into a tea sieve or an infuser and put aside. Put the mint sprigs into the teapot, leaving a few sprigs for each serving glass. Spoon the sugar over the fresh mint leaves. 

Step two: Steep the tea

Fill the teapot with water and let it simmer but not boil. If you do not have a kettle or teapot that can be used on a stove use an electric kettle to boil water and pour it in the teapot for steeping.

Step three: Add the green tea

Place the infuser with the green tea into the teapot. Decrease the heat. Infuse the green tea for 2-3 minutes and take off the sieve. Too high a temperature and too long infusing time might cause bitter flavors in tea. Take off the infuser and discard the green tea.

Set the teapot on a pot coaster, like our blue Moroccan tile as a tea coaster (and. that is where the name of the blog comes from!), and place it on a tray.

Serving

Serve the tea from the Moroccan teapot right after finishing. Use a tea serving tray where you can set the small glasses, teapot, and some biscuits and sweets to enjoy with the tea. 

Mix the tea the Moroccan way before serving: pour the first glass full of tea and then pour it back into the teapot to mix the tea well before serving. Then place some fresh mint sprigs in the glasses. Now you are ready to serve your tea like home in North Africa.

You can try pouring from high, the Arabic style, and start pouring close to the rim of the glass and then lifting the teapot very high up and lowering it down to finish up the pour. That pouring movement mixes and slightly cools the tea as well!

Enjoy the traditional Moroccan mint tea with some Moroccan pastries like harcha, msemen (rghaif), or some Moroccan sweets.

Storage

Enjoy the hot tea right away. If you have something left, you can sieve it into a bottle in the fridge to use as iced tea later. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

Try this out and let me know!

Have you tasted yet the delicious sweet Moroccan mint tea? Let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram with @blue.tea.tile, and tell me where you have tasted it and what you have enjoyed with it!

Make something yummy Moroccan