# 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.

**Moroccan Cuisine · 13 min · 4 servings · 85 kcal per serving**

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.

## Ingredients

- 1 tbsp — Chinese gunpowder green tea
- 1 bunch — fresh mint
- 4 tbsp — sugar
- 4 cups — boiling water
- 1 — metal teapot with a long spout
- small glass cups
- shiba (wormwood), optional

## 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. **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.

## Tips

- 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.

## FAQ

### 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.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/moroccan-cuisine/moroccan-mint-tea
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-10-29