Over the past few days, as a result of how insanely cheap fresh mint is here and my extreme aversion to coffee, Gwen and I have designated a tea time at about 5 or 6 everyday. While I was in Morocco, I had mint tea at least once a day, in the morning and often my host family had tea with different deserts around 5 or 6. Drinking mint tea in Morocco is not a solitary activity, unlike grabbing a tea from starbucks there is a social aspect to pouring the tea, the number of rounds the tea is poured, and even its preparation. When I got back to the U.S. I had every intention to try and make the tea at home, however MINT IS EXPENSIVE. Which is ridiculous because it is easily grown, but as a result of laziness and know how, I didn't really feel like buying a mint plant. After a while I also decided in my mind that it would be a huge task to make, and so I only made it once. However, after arriving in Jordan and finding that a pretty large amount of mint is only 20 cents, I have revived mint tea in Jordan. Though it is not the customary Jordanian tea, I am taking advantage of this access to cheap mint and tea and bringing in a little bit of Moroccan culture to my experience here.
I am sure there are a few variations in the actual process, but I have chosen the simplest way which takes only around 7 or 8 minutes and barely involves any real work.
Step 1: Boil the Water
Step 2: In a teapot combine the sugar, green tea, mint leaves and water. (The real way to enjoy this tea is extremely sweet there are no exact measurements but be extremely liberal with the amount, as for the mount of green tea I use about four packets for two cups of water, and I also stuff the pot pretty full with mint)
Step 3: Let the tea, sugar, and mint sit for about 4-5 minutes
Step 4: Before serving the tea, pour the tea into a glass and then back into the teapot about 4-5 times, I have seen up to seven but I am pretty sure they were just showing off. Whether or not this has an actual function I am not sure but its purpose is to make sure the tea is properly mixed. In Morocco the person doing this would usually be the head of the household.
Step 5: Pour the tea into the glasses, it is important to pour very high above the glass, which should create bubbles in the tea while pouring. I am also not sure if this has a purpose, but it looks cool and supposedly makes the taste better.
Step 6: Enjoy your mint tea!
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