Moroccan Mint Tea and the High Pour
Moroccan tea is green tea with mint and sugar, and two steps define it: the rinse with hot water that is thrown away to remove bitterness, and the high pour that aerates the tea and builds its signature foam crown.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Total
- 13 min
- Calories
- 85
Photo: Sarkar Sayantan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mint tea is poured all day in Morocco and is a fixture of hospitality there. It looks simple, but the order of operations decides whether it comes out clean and fragrant or harsh and bitter.
Method
-
1
Rinse the tea
Put the tea in the pot, pour over half a cup of boiling water, swirl gently for 30 seconds and throw that water away. The rinse removes dust and the first wave of bitterness.
⏱ 2 min -
2
Extract
Pour the remaining boiling water over the rinsed leaves and keep the pot on low heat for 5 minutes without a hard boil — boiling pulls out bitterness.
⏱ 6 min -
3
Sugar
Add the sugar and stir or swirl the pot until it dissolves. Sugar goes in before the mint so the heat can dissolve it without cooking the leaves.
⏱ 2 min -
4
Mint
Take the pot off the heat, add the mint on its stems and cover for two minutes only. Boiled mint turns black and tastes distinctly bitter.
⏱ 3 min -
5
Pour and return
Pour a glass and return it to the pot two or three times so the tea mixes evenly, and taste and adjust the sugar at this stage.
⏱ 2 min -
6
The high pour
Pour into the glasses from at least 30 cm above — this aerates the tea, builds the characteristic foam, and cools it to drinking temperature.
⏱ 2 min
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Tips that actually matter
- The first rinse is not optional — it is the difference between clean tea and tea with a bitter aftertaste.
- Mint always goes in off the heat. Any boiling turns it black and bitter.
- The high pour is not showmanship: the foam traps aroma and the air cools the tea to the right temperature.
- In winter Moroccans add shiba (wormwood) — bitter and warming, used in very small amounts.
People also ask
Why is my Moroccan tea bitter?
Either you skipped the rinse, boiled it too long, or added the mint over heat. Rinse for 30 seconds, extract for 5 minutes, and add the mint off the heat.
Which tea should I use?
Chinese green tea rolled into pellets (gunpowder) — that is what is used in Morocco. Japanese green teas are too delicate and turn bitter at these temperatures.
How do I get the foam?
Pour from at least 30 cm with a long, narrow-spouted pot. The stream has to stay unbroken — a broken stream will not aerate properly.
Cook mode
Moroccan Mint Tea and the High Pour
-
1
Rinse the tea
Put the tea in the pot, pour over half a cup of boiling water, swirl gently for 30 seconds and throw that water away. The rinse removes dust and the first wave of bitterness.
-
2
Extract
Pour the remaining boiling water over the rinsed leaves and keep the pot on low heat for 5 minutes without a hard boil — boiling pulls out bitterness.
-
3
Sugar
Add the sugar and stir or swirl the pot until it dissolves. Sugar goes in before the mint so the heat can dissolve it without cooking the leaves.
-
4
Mint
Take the pot off the heat, add the mint on its stems and cover for two minutes only. Boiled mint turns black and tastes distinctly bitter.
-
5
Pour and return
Pour a glass and return it to the pot two or three times so the tea mixes evenly, and taste and adjust the sugar at this stage.
-
6
The high pour
Pour into the glasses from at least 30 cm above — this aerates the tea, builds the characteristic foam, and cools it to drinking temperature.
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