Berrad (Maghrebi teapot)
A metal teapot with a long curved spout, a domed hinged lid and a heat-resistant handle, used across the Maghreb. Unlike almost every other teapot in this catalogue it goes directly onto the flame: the tea is brought back to the boil in it with the sugar and mint present, which is a decoction rather than a steep.
Identity
- Category
- Brewing vessel
- Native name
- براد
- Romanised
- berrad, berrada, barrad
- Also called
- Moroccan teapot, mint tea pot
- Material
- Stainless steel, nickel silver or silver-plated brass
- Typical capacity
- 400–1200 ml
- Skill level
- Beginner
Porosity
Not porous. It contributes nothing of its own to the liquor, so it can be moved between teas freely and washed with detergent without consequence.
Where it comes from
Maghrebi — Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian and Saharan practice, with regional differences in form and service. The pot is normally used with a tray, small glasses and a separate sugar container, and the high pour from spout to glass is part of the service rather than decoration.
Named here rather than presented as generic equipment. The object belongs to a practice, and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.
If you do not own one
A saucepan to boil in and any pot to pour from. The long spout exists so the tea can be poured from height, which aerates it and builds the foam on the glass; a short spout makes that difficult and nothing else about the pot is doing work.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used for
- 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.
Tea types it suits
Care and maintenance
The handle and lid knob are the parts that fail on a pot that goes on a flame — keep the flame under the base rather than licking up the sides. Sugar caramelises onto the interior and should be soaked off rather than scraped.
Other brewing vessels
- Boiling teapot
- Brewing saucepan
- Çaydanlık (Turkish double kettle)
- Chawan (matcha bowl)
- Chinese lidded mug
- Cold brew bottle
- Dagwan (Korean teapot)
- Dobin
- Enamel-lined cast iron teapot
- Gaiwan
- Glass teapot
- Glazed stoneware teapot
- Houhin
- Kyusu
- Nixing pottery teapot
- Plastic teaware
- Plunger tea press
- Porcelain teapot
- Quick-brew infuser press
- Ru-glaze crackle ware
- Shiboridashi
- Silver teapot
- Stainless steel teapot
- Travel gongfu set
- Travel infuser bottle
- Unglazed clay teapot (non-Yixing)
- Western teapot
- Yixing teapot
- Zavarnik (concentrate pot)
Sources
This page is TeaHQ synthesis. No external source stands behind the description, the material or the account of how the object is cared for. Where the record names a tradition, that attribution is TeaHQ’s own reading of common practice rather than a citation.
TeaHQ names no maker, brand or shop and has nothing to sell. Nothing on this page should be read as advice to buy the object — the substitute note above exists because owning it is usually optional.