#berber tea

Berber Tea and Love Poetry: Fusion Discovery, Marrakech, September 2012

One of the highlights of our Fusion Discovery Escape to Marrakech is a jeep tour up into the high Atlas mountains. We take the scenic route, slowly winding through the local Berber villages making a stop for some traditional mint tea and home baked Berber bread. Our guests are welcomed into the home of a Berber (or imazighen - meaning "free and noble people") family catching a glimpse into the life of this unique community. Our guide, Moulay, always keen to share a story, explains the timely process for brewing the aromatic mint tea. “Inshas Allah”, he says, which means with god willing, all good things will come with time!

The method of preparation of Atai is relatively complex compared to methods used elsewhere. A large quantity of hard sugar cones or lumps (5 tea spoons for every spoon of tea) is used, and fresh mint is also an essential ingredient.

The tea leaves are cleaned with boiling water before being dried. This removes any dust and supposedly makes the tea less bitter. Tea and boiling water are combined, and may be boiled further for several minutes. After that, sugar and mint are added and mixed into a teapot with a long, curved spout. The sugar may also be combined with the tea and water in the first infusion, rather than with the mint after brewing. Using a traditional curved spout allows the tea to be poured into tiny glasses from a height of approximately half a meter to form a foamy head. It is then returned once or twice (or in this case 4 times!) to the teapot for a good mix.

Mint tea, the national Moroccan drink, is so important in daily interactions that it is often jokingly referred to as Berber whiskey.

On this occassion, whilst our guests were relaxing drinking their delicious mint tea, Moulay shared a love poem he had written many years ago. Enjoy!