Next, he bruises a bunch of spearmint on the back of
his hand and stuffs it in the top. Sugar broken from the
tip of a 2kg paper-wrapped cone is the final ingredient,
added before the tea is placed back on the stove. We
watch in reverential silence as it brews.
“You wait three to five minutes – until a complete ring
of bubbles appears round the edge,” Hassan explains.
Idir then pours into the glasses from a height to create
froth. The golden tea is too hot at first to drink, but we’re
treated to freshly baked unleavened bread and argan oil
brought to us by another of Idir’s three granddaughters.
“Berber villagers live in extended families. When a
couple marry, they return to live with the boy’s parents
and each time a child is born, a room is added,” Hassan
says. “When a girl has chosen a boy, he goes to her family
with his parents or an uncle. The girl cooks a meal and
afterwards she serves tea. If she likes the boy it has sugar
in it, if she doesn’t, no sugar!”
I don’t have a sweet tooth and take my tea
sans sucre
back in Marrakech – a habit young health-conscious
Marrakshis have also adopted. But it’s warm and so
carefully prepared I readily accept a second glass.
The origins of the ritual are oft debated, but Chinese
gunpowder tea was first introduced by British envoys in
the 17th century, during the reign of Sultan Moulay
Ismail. It was reserved for the Sultan and notables at
first, and didn’t become widespread in Morocco until the
start of the Crimean War in 1853. Merchants from
Essaouira, formerly the port of Mogador, distributed it
TEA TIME
01
Teapots are always
metal, either stainless
steel or silver
02
‘Souri’ tea, the
gunpowder green tea
drunk in Morocco
03
Mint, spearmint or
pennyroyal are all
used for flavouring
04
Sugar is usually added
05
The tea is drunk out
of glass, not china
06
Cinnamon is used in
spiced teas
“Tea is very important to
Berber families – it brings
them together. They
drink it at all times of
day, throughout the day.
Each time they go through the
same ceremony”
and now green tea is known here as ‘Souri’ tea after the
town. These days, the tea is drunk throughout Morocco to
maintain bonds within families, but the ritual also exists
as a flamboyant way of welcoming guests. So important is
green tea to Morocco that an agreement has been signed
with the Vice State Minister of Cultural Heritage in
Beijing to open a National Museum of Tea in Essaouira.
Various types of mint, such as pennyroyal and
peppermint, are substituted in different parts and for
different purposes. Lemon verbena is added to aid
digestion, and seasonal variations include fresh orange
blossom in spring and bitter wormwood leaves in winter.
To make a more luxurious drink, saffron stems add a
dusky, pink hue.
Of course, herbal tea drinking is not confined to
Morocco. Infusions are gaining popularity throughout
Europe. The UK, France and Germany rank among the
top consumers, but herbal teas also enjoy popularity in
Romania – the Tea House in Bucharest
(tea-house.ro)
has
a Moroccan-styled room and 10 varieties of green tea.
According to London company JING Tea
(jingtea.
com)
, which supplies speciality teas to the top five-star
hotels around the world and establishments such as
Dinner by Heston, the Savoy Grill and Dabbous in the
British capital, sales of herbal infusions have grown 30%
over the past three years. JING Tea’s research shows that
green and white teas are now second in popularity to
black tea in the UK. “The trend across Europe is that
people in general are healthier andmore conscious of what
they are consuming,” says company spokesperson Aynsley
Munsie. “People are also less reluctant to try new
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