Mint Tea

[Suvir Saran]

Over the last century or two, mint tea has found a willing partner in the people of North Africa. It is synonymous with North African culture and entertaining. No party would come to a correct start if the guests were not first greeted with freshly brewed mint tea.

The tea must always be served in glass. Never in cups and saucers. Finer homes ensure their tea bearers learn the art of pouring tea from a much higher place than a guest would expect. The higher one can pour it from, the superior training the host if credited for. The snootier that host can be. But also it is believed that the foam helps carry the flavor better.

In fact, at the opening night of the Sacred Music Festival at Fez, the guardsmen to His Majesty, The King of Morocco, were serving the special guests tea. They were dressed in ceremonial garb and impressed all of us with their ease in serving tea from much higher point than I have ever seen it poured. I am posting a picture below of the guardsmen as they sat waiting to be called upon for more such pouring of tea.

[Suvir Saran]

What tea do you use for mint tea?

What kind of mint do you use?

[Mottmott]

I use mint from my garden. In the fall I'll dry a batch to take me through the winter.

[bloviatrix]

I tend to use spearmint.

[Wolfert]

In answer to your query on what kind of tea is used.....

it is usually made with green tea, fresh spearmint leaves, and lots of sugar.

In February some fresh orange blossoms are added.

[schnitzel]

I make Chinese green tea and add some fresh mint leaves, spearmint and/or ginger mint.

[mudbug]

Pineapple mint is a good one. Good in just plain water.

Any mint steeped in plain water constitutes a "tea" in and of itself.

[Katherine]

I use a blend of dried spearmint and peppermint. My "house blend" also adds chamomile and freshly grated lemon/orange rind.

If I want it during the day, I mix 1 teaspoon gunpowder green tea with 1 tablespoon dried mint leaves for steeping.

I don't much care for fresh leaves in tea, they taste too vegetal to me.

[joiei]

I like the flavor of fresh chocolate mint brewed with a slice of fresh ginger and a basil leaf. I find this very soothing and relaxing. And tasty.

[Suvir Saran]

In answer to your query on what kind of tea is used.....

it is usually made with green tea, fresh spearmint leaves, and lots of sugar.

In February some fresh orange blossoms are added.

I found the liberal and frequent use of orange blossom in Morocco wonderful.

I especially loved how it changes freshly squeezed orange juice.

What are some of your favorite uses for these blossoms?

[jpyvr]

I don't remember where I originally read this "recipe", but I believe that North African mint tea is usually made from a mix of spearmint and gunpowder tea.

I make my own mixture by buying dried spearmint and gunpowder tea in approximately equal weights at my local tea emporium. The result certainly tastes to me remarkably like the teas I remember from Tunisia.

Incidentally, a nice Tunisian touch that I sometimes copy is to float a couple of toasted pine nuts in the tea. They're great to crunch after they've steeped in the tea for a while!

[cakewalk]

Title caught my eye. Mint tea is a biggie in Israel, probably because of the huge North African population (Eastern Europeans seem to favor lemon tea). The mint used is usually spearmint, called "nana" in Hebrew (pronounced nah-nah, accent on the first syllable). Wonderful on a cold Jerusalem winter night. Always drunk in glasses, and very sweet, it's usually regular black tea with sprigs of mint and sugar added. I don't put sugar in tea or coffee, but when I drink tea with nana I always take sugar.

[Mizzy]

When I was growing up in Israel, we would use mint leaves that grew wild outside our apartment building. It was called Nanna. I dont know what kind of mint leaves that translates into in English.

[zora]

The Middle Eastern grocery near me occasionally has fresh "Moroccan mint"--or that's what the sign says in Arabic. I think it's closest to spearmint--thin, tender leaves and exceptionally fragrant.

"na'na'" is the word in Arabic for mint in general, not a specific variety, as far as I know. But people do seem to prefer the spearmint.

[Sackville]

If you're making it a la Morocco, then definitely chinese gunpowder green tea with copious amounts of sugar! In the desert, even though they don't have any mint, they still call it mint tea. Sometimes they use a plant that grows in the desert (small yellow knobby blossoms) in place of mint. At first, our guides wouldn't let me have it as they said it often caused diarrhea. I persisted (I actually had a need for this tea ) and it worked very well as well as tasting wonderful!

[Pan]

I always have some mint tea around the house. I use it as a relaxer for the digestive system, as well as something that takes the edge off overtiredness. I usually drink pure peppermint, and I admit I go the convenient way and have teabags, though in a decent Moroccan restaurant, it's fun to have tea with fresh mint leaves. Of the mint teabags that are mass-marketed, I suppose I find Pompadour the strongest and best, but I admit I usually get whatever is cheapest.

[chefzadi]

We gave friends of ours a Moroccan tea set as a wedding gift that we put together. A tea pot and two cups, in a basket lined with fresh mint leaves and a box of green tea with a poem title "The making of Mint Tea". We wrapped it handmade Japanese paper. The bride and groom just loved it.

North African mint teas are very sweet and almost always available in most homes ready to be served to guests.

[ayana]

In Israel, mint tea is ALWAYS spearmint, never peppermint, and I'm pretty sure it's always black tea. And sweet - lots of sugar. And in my family we always add a fresh citrus blossom or two (it doesn't matter which citrus tree you use, the flowers all smell the same, ie like HEAVEN) - if you don't have one handy, you can use a few drops of orange blossom water.

[Swisskaese]

In Israel, mint tea is ALWAYS spearmint, never peppermint, and I'm pretty sure it's always black tea.  And sweet - lots of sugar.  And in my family we always add a fresh citrus blossom or two (it doesn't matter which citrus tree you use, the flowers all smell the same, ie like HEAVEN) - if you don't have one handy, you can use a few drops of orange blossom water.

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I will have to try the citrus blossoms in the tea. I can grab some on my way home.

[Jason Perlow]

In Israel, mint tea is ALWAYS spearmint, never peppermint, and I'm pretty sure it's always black tea.  And sweet - lots of sugar.  And in my family we always add a fresh citrus blossom or two (it doesn't matter which citrus tree you use, the flowers all smell the same, ie like HEAVEN) - if you don't have one handy, you can use a few drops of orange blossom water.

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I'm pretty sure that in Morocco, where the mint tea tradition in Israel comes from, its also spearmint.

I think the Moroccan stuff is also some green tea mixed with the spearmint as well, but I can't be sure. Definitely sweet too.

[TeakettleSlim]

Here I am, reviving another long-dead thread.

For me the most urgent question is not "what kind of mint?", but "what's the technique"? I use a mix of gunpowder green and spearmint (Upton Tea's Moroccan Mint blend, or home blend with my homegrown spearmint), but my results have not been authentic, no matter how strong I try to make the brew. I have been served North African mint tea twice, once by a Malian Tuareg woman, once by a Senegalese man. It knocked my socks off each time! It was to my American mint tea what Italian espresso is to McDonald's coffee. I didn't get to watch the process very closely, but it seemed more involved than just boiling water, steeping, straining and sweetening, and pouring from up high (I don't even think they did that part, but I'm not sure). Anyone know the proper procedure?

[melamed]

The Israeli mint tea, a culinary habit introduced by the Moroccans, is often made with black tea instead of the traditional green tea. This was simply because in the early days of Israel's existence green tea was not available. Although green tea can be obtained now, most people prefer their mint tea either plain (with only fresh spearmint leaves) or with black tea.