Medrassa diaal The (School of Tea)

Last night we were schooled in the art of making mint tea, which is served daily (multiple times) in Morocco.  Ben’s sister Amina is the Tea-Master, and demonstrated for us.  She rinsed the teapot, and added two scoops of green tea (we use Gunpowder Tea from Chinatown in Boston).  Then she added a little hot water and poured it out a few times – most of the tea stayed in the bottom of the pot.  She stuck in a giant handful of mint, followed by 5 huge sugar cubes, then filled the pot with hot water and heated it to a boil again.  She poured out several glasses of tea and dumped them back in the pot to mix it.  Finally the tea was ready to drink and Ben did the honors.

The mint is SO inexpensive here…like a dollar or two for a small laundry basket full.  I’m vague on the quantities of the ingredients used in the tea, although about a half hour was spent during the ride to Marrakech trying to figure out how much sugar was in the 5 cubes.  I think the mathematicians in the front of the Party Bus finally agreed on 135 grams total, which worked out to WAY less than a Coke per person.  The tea is super-sweet, like drinking liquid spearmint gum.

Our lesson in tea-making was like Moroccan dinner theater on the roof, with a group of curious tourists gathered around the tea tray, our Moroccan family thinking we must have a few screws loose, and Andi teaching them how to say “cheers!” and clink their tea glasses together.  Good stuff.

Ben’s brother Najib is in the middle here…

Cheers!