Moroccan Mint Tea

By Ellen L. Published: 2017-06-07

This is my latest obsession! We always have a pot of tea (usually pu-erh tea 普洱茶) in the morning to wake up and get us going. But recently, having some extra mint leaves after making the fabulously yummy Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli Noodle Salad, I thought of making a pot of mint tea with it.

Well, one thing led to another and I ended up making Moroccan Mint Tea, which turned out to be the most amazing pot of tea: golden, sweet, the subtle flavors of Chinese tea transformed by the uplifting aromatics of mint! This is so good even a lazy girl like me will spend a bit of effort of effort to brew it up. This fragrant tea truly makes my day!

There is something about rituals that make them special, comforting to the spirit. Tea drinking, said to be first practiced by Chinese emperor Shennong 神農 in 2737 BC (that's more than 4000 years ago!), is one of those time honored rituals the world around.

You find a quiet moment, sit down with a teapot filled with fragrant leaves and hot water, watch the curls of steam wafting up as you wait for the tea to brew, the tantalizing aromas of tea soothing and satisfying to the soul.

Moroccan mint tea is traditionally made with Chinese tea that came by way of the Silk Road, that ancient trade route that connected China to the rest of the world. I used Shoumei Tea 壽眉茶, also known as Longevity Eyebrow Tea, which is my new favorite tea.

Shoumei tea is a white tea where the buds and the upper leaf of the tea plant are picked and then left to naturally sun dry, leaving the tiny white hair on the leaves intact (thus the name "white tea"). The soft mellow fruity flavor of the shoumei goes perfectly with fresh mint. We would recommend a green or white Chinese tea for making Moroccan Mint Tea.

I used to not like mint. Not sure why, it probably has something to do with that awful mint flavor in a lot of the candies I grew up with. But I've rediscovered mint as the fresh mint that I can get everywhere nowadays and it's absolutely fabulous! I can't believe I missed out on this for so long! Just the smell of it as I break the leaves off, it's like springtime in the air!

The tea is brewing, just a handful of tea leaves and some freshly picked mint leaves. Fill teapot to the brim with freshly boiled water and settle back with a book to wait for the tea to steep. Ahhh...the calming smell of mint in the air...time to relax!

If you like tea and you like sweet drinks, I can't recommend this tea enough. I don't say that you have to like mint to love this tea, because I didn't like mint much until this tea got me hooked. The usually subtle flavor of tea is uplifted by the mint's gorgeous freshness and the mellowness of sugar. Usually I don't ever add sugar to my tea, I like my tea very Chinese, but here it all goes perfectly together.

This Moroccan Mint Tea is wonderfully refreshing, just the right drink to make you feel that today, everything is going to be alright.

Moroccan Mint Tea Recipe
(makes one quart pot of tea) Prep: 2 mins Cook time: 4 mins

Ingredients:

1 teapot and some teacups
2 tbsp green tea or white Chinese tea
10-15 fresh mint leaves
4 tsp sugar, or to taste

Directions:

Put tea leaves in teapot. Rinse the tea leaves by adding boiling water to fill teapot, swirl, and pour out immediately.

Add mint leaves and sugar, then fill teapot with hot water again. Taste and add sugar to taste if necessary.

Let steep for 3-4 minutes. Pour into tea cups. If you like you can pour the tea from a couple of inches above the teacups in order to aerate (and air into) and foam up the tea. Now sit back and enjoy your tea break!

Refreshing Drinks at The Hong Kong Cookery: