Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Moroccan Mint Tea
Sweet green tea steeped with fresh spearmint and poured from a height into little glasses.
Moroccan · easy · serves 4
prep 5 min · cook 10 min
~49 cal · 0g protein · 13g carbs · 0g fat · 0g fiber · 13g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Moroccan mint tea, green gunpowder tea steeped with a generous bundle of fresh spearmint and plenty of sugar, is far more than a drink; it is the ritual heart of Moroccan hospitality, sometimes called 'Berber whisky.' To offer it is to welcome a guest, and to refuse it can be a small insult. Preparing and pouring it is a performance in itself.
The tea is traditionally poured from a great height, the stream aerating the liquid and building a light foam ('keshkusha') atop each glass, a flourish that also cools it slightly for drinking. It is customarily served three times, and a Maghrebi saying holds that the three glasses are 'gentle as life, strong as love, and bitter as death.'
Mint tea punctuates every part of the Moroccan day, offered in homes, shops, and souks from Marrakesh to the mountains. The ceremony of brewing, sweetening, and pouring, often the honor of the host or eldest man, makes a simple cup of tea into an act of connection.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 tbsp gunpowder green tea
a big handful fresh spearmint
3-4 tbsp, to taste sugar
4 cups boiling water
Instructions
1
Rinse the tea leaves with a splash of hot water and discard it to soften the bitterness.
2
Add the boiling water and steep 3 minutes.
3
Add the mint and sugar and warm gently for a few minutes.
4
Pour a glass and return it to the pot two or three times to mix.
5
Pour from high above each glass to raise a little foam, and serve very hot.
Marrakesh tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Marrakesh-Safi. The Jemaa el-Fnaa is not simply a market that happens to sell food. UNESCO proclaimed its cultural space a masterpiece of oral heritage in 2001 and inscribed it in 2008, and the food stalls that appear at dusk, the snail broth, the grilled sardines, the sheep's head, are named as part of what was listed.
🗺️
Morocco. Couscous is not Morocco's alone: UNESCO inscribed the knowledge and practices around it in 2020 as a shared Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Tunisian tradition. In Moroccan homes it is the Friday dish, hand-rolled from semolina and steamed three times over the broth it will be served with, carried out on one communal platter after midday prayers.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Kefta Mkaouara (Meatball Tagine)Spiced meatballs simmered in a cumin-scented tomato sauce with eggs cracked on top, a bubbling tagine eaten with bread.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Morocco meal
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Moroccan Mint Tea?
Sweet green tea steeped with fresh spearmint and poured from a height into little glasses.
Where does Moroccan Mint Tea come from?
Moroccan Mint Tea is a Moroccan dish from Marrakesh-Safi, Morocco.
Can Moroccan Mint Tea be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Moroccan Mint Tea recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Moroccan Mint Tea safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Moroccan Mint Tea take to make?
About 15 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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