The Moroccan tea recipe
for your table
Put the gunpowder tea and sugar in the teapot, pour boiling water over them, and place the pot over low heat. Let it warm up until just before boiling.
Push the bunch of mint into the pot, stems and all, and let everything sit for a few minutes without bringing it back to a boil.
Fill one glass and pour it back into the pot. This mixes the sugar and tea together, so you can taste immediately whether more sugar is needed.
Fill the glasses from a height of a hand or two above the rim. This height creates foam on the tea and cools the stream slightly on the way down, so you can pick up the glass immediately without a handle.
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The story
Tea only became widespread in Morocco in the nineteenth century, and the green gunpowder tea from China has remained the standard ever since. The leaves are rolled into small pellets, which is where the English name comes from; in the pot, they unfurl again. Fresh mint, nana, is added, along with sugar: not just a little, but enough to make the tea sweet. Pouring it is just as much a part of the ritual. The pot is raised, the stream falls into a small glass, and a layer of foam forms on top. Anyone who stops by gets a glass, and usually it doesn't stop at one.
The right glass
The glasses are small and have no handle: you hold them by the rim or at the bottom. Fourteen centilitres may seem like little, but that is exactly the point, because it is better to refill more often than to let the tea sit and cool in the glass. A pot is part of the experience, and you can find one in the teapots collection.
RCR Adagio Tea Glass 14 cl (6 pieces)
Duralex Gigogne Tea Glass 22 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 47,90.
The right tools
For a pot of Moroccan tea, in addition to the glasses, use a fine strainer if your pot has no filter and a bar spoon to dissolve the sugar. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 54,85.
What else does fresh mint go well with?
Moroccan tea is alcohol-free and is served that way. Fresh mint also features in many drinks, usually with rum or gin. Well-known bottles include Havana Club and Captain Morgan. On every drink page, you can read the percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it works well in and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Not everyone uses the same amount of sugar: start with less and add more later. If you have little mint, place a few leaves in the glass instead of putting the whole bunch in the pot. You can reuse the same pot two or three times with the same leaves, and each round tastes different. It is also great cold, over ice. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Servingtip
Put the pot and glasses together on a tray and pour at the table, so everyone can see the foam fall. Hold the glass by the upper rim and preferably pour two half-glasses rather than one filled to the rim. A saucer underneath catches anything that spills.
Good to know
Why is it called atay?
Atay is the Moroccan word for tea. If you ask for mint tea, you hear atay with nana, and nana is the word for mint.
Why pour from a height?
The height mixes the tea in the glass, cools the stream slightly and creates a layer of foam on top. That foam is part of it: a glass without foam looks unfinished.
Why is the first glass poured back into the pot?
The sugar sinks to the bottom and the strongest tea stays at the top. Filling one glass and pouring it back mixes them, so you can immediately tell whether more sugar is needed.
Why pour three times?
You can pour several rounds from the same pot, and each round tastes different because the leaves have steeped longer. Three glasses is the best-known form of this.
What is gunpowder?
Green tea from China whose leaves are rolled into small pellets. They unfurl in the pot. The name comes from those pellets, not the taste.
Why use glasses without handles?
Because you pour it in small portions and drink it quickly. You hold the glass by the rim or at the bottom, and pouring from a height cools the tea slightly.
Frequently asked questions
Which tea do you use for Moroccan tea?
Chinese gunpowder, a green tea with leaves rolled into small pellets. One tablespoon is enough for a half-litre pot.
How much sugar goes in?
A lot. Allow four teaspoons per half litre, and in Morocco they often add more. Put the sugar in the pot rather than the glass, so it dissolves better.
Why does foam form on the tea?
Pouring from a height draws air through the stream. That foam is part of the result and is also why you hold the pot up high.
Which glass is used for Moroccan tea?
A small glass without a handle, holding about 14 cl. Its size keeps the tea warm and means you pour more often.
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