Maghrebi mint tea (atay)

What it tastes like

Sweet, minty and briskly green underneath, with a foam head on each glass that a well-made serving is judged by. The three rounds are conventionally described as progressively gentler.

What it is built on

Teas

• Gunpowder green tea — Blunt, brisk and faintly smoky — a long way from delicate. The tight rolling keeps it fresher than open-leafed greens for far longer, which is why it travels and stores well.

Brewing method: Moroccan mint tea preparation — Chinese gunpowder green tea brewed strong with a large quantity of fresh spearmint and sugar, and poured from height into small glasses. It is the daily preparation and the hospitality ritual across the Maghreb, and the pour is functional as well as expressive.

Ingredients

• 15 g Gunpowder green tea
• Fresh spearmint, a generous bundle
• 80 g Sugar
• 700 ml Water

Preparation

1. Step 1. Rinse the leaf with a first pour and discard it.
2. Step 2. Brew the leaf strong in a metal pot.
3. Step 3. Add mint and sugar and return to the heat.
4. Step 4. Pour from a height into small glasses, raising foam. Three successive rounds are traditional.

Serves 4. About 15 minutes from start to finish, including anything that has to simmer or cool.

There is no single correct version

Central across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and the Sahel, with local differences in sugar, mint quantity and vessel. The serving belongs to specific communities and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.

The steps above are one workable account of how this is made, not the authoritative recipe. Households and regions differ on proportions, on order and sometimes on what counts as the drink at all.

Common mistakes

• Using dried mint, which gives a flat and dusty result
• Pouring gently, which produces no foam
• Treating it as a generic flavoured green tea

Sources