Tea Time

Hip-hip-hooray, it's Friday! This week on my blog, I suggested some ideas on how to take drinking water to the next level. Just by adding some fresh summer fruit, we can easily turn an everyday beverage from blah to Tada!.

A cold drink will always be appreciated on a sweltering day but something hot ain't bad at all. I'm not talking about coffee. I'm talking about mint tea! Moroccan Mint Tea to be exact.

The whole Moroccan tea ceremony is a spectacle! Tea is served in a beautiful silver teapot and small tea glasses with intricate, colorful designs. The tea is poured high (this aerates the tea for better flavor) and sugar is added to the tea -- a sweet and soothing drink that warms the belly. This is Morocco's national drink and this will be served to you inside a home, a restaurant and at the souks.

Moroccan Mint Tea served with almond macaroons
as a snack or at the end of a meal.

Here's an easy way to prepare mint tea right in your kitchen (recipe from The Food of Morocco cookbook):

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh spearmint
2 teaspoons Chinese gunpowder green tea
2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste

Procedure:

Cut the ends of the mint stalks leaving leafy sprigs. Wash well, shake dry and roll in a clean dish towel to absorb excess moisture. Alternatively, dry mint in a salad spinner.

Rinse a 1 litre (36 fl oz/4 cup) teapot with boiling water, add the tea and a little boiling water, swirl briefly, let it settle, then carefully pour out the water to remove any tea dust. Half-fill pot with boiling water. Take a handful of the spearmint sprigs, crush lightly in the hand and add to the pot. Add more crushed mint sprigs until the pot is three-quarters full. Add the sugar and fill the pot with boiling water. Let the tea brew for three minutes.

Pour out a glass of tea and pour back into the pot. Repeat, twice more to mix the tea and to dissolve the sugar. Serve the tea in tea glasses, pouring it from a height to aerate the tea. Add a mint sprig (not crushed) to each glass.

Have a great weekend Everyone!