Ritual & Secrets of Mint Tea

The Mint Tea Gunpowder

The Gunpowder green tea (in Chinese: 珠茶 ; transcribed in pinyin: Zhū Chá; literally " Tea Pearls ") exists for over a thousand years. It is very popular around the world, and especially in Morocco. Gunpowder Green Tea is the main ingredient for the preparation of Moroccan Tea . In its collection of Mint Tea, Maison NANA1807 has prepared two Moroccan Teas - MOUIMA and GREEN CITY - that you can taste every day, as a digestive. 

For the creation of Gunpowder Green Tea , producers use Tea leaves and young buds. These are then coiled in the form of beads resembling the sinkers used in the first muskets.

Origin of Gunpowder Tea

Originating in the Chinese province of Zhejiang during the Tang Dynasty, Zhejiang is still the most important region for the production of Gunpowder tea . It is also produced in other Chinese provinces - Guangdong, Anhui, Hunan and Fujian, and other countries under different varieties:

• Pingshui Gunpowder (in Chinese: 平 水珠 茶 ): The original and most common variety with larger pearls, a beautiful color and a more aromatic infusion.
• Gunpowder Formosa : Tea grown in Taiwan near Keelung, with characteristic aroma, usually Oolong teas
• Gunpowder Ceylon : A variant grown in Sri Lanka, usually at altitudes exceeding 1,800 meters.

Several types of Green Teas are usually rolled in the same shape as Gunpowder - for example: Chunmee , Tieguanyin, Huang Guanyin and Dong Ding, as well as many Oolong teas like Jasmine teas .

The best Gunpowder Tea leaves are withered, steamed, hand rolled and then dried. The rolling makes the tea leaves more resistant to transport and logistics. This technique allows above all to preserve more their flavor and their aroma. Some types of Oolong Teas age for decades if looked after properly.

Gunpowder Tea has a strong and thick aroma, with a smoky flavor and a slightly coppery aftertaste. This type of Tea goes perfectly with other herbs such as Mint, Sage or Lemon Verbena .

Mint Gunpowder Green Tea

For its daily consumption of Mint Tea , Morocco is the leading importer of Green Gunpowder tea, mainly from China.

National drink of Morocco, Mint tea is also known as “ Moroccan tea ” or “ Thé Maghrebin ”(in Maghrebian Arabic أتاي , pronounced A tay)

“The first drink is as sweet as life. The second is as strong as love. The third is as bitter as death. "

Mint Tea plays a vital role in Moroccan tradition and culture, although it is also popular in many other African countries and in the Arab world.

Often, the history of Mint Tea refers to a British contribution between Queen Anne of England and the Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail.

Relations between China and the Arab world have been fairly well known since the 8th century. It is also astonishing to see the transport of Tea from China to Morocco, through the Silk Road

Although little is known about this period, there is evidence of early trade relations and written records of the travels of Moroccan scholar and traveler Ibn Battuta to parts of China.

Between 1405 and 1433 CE, Chinese Muslim Admiral Zheng He commanded huge fleets loaded with commercial goods in places as far away as the Strait of Hormuz in the Arabian Gulf and Mogadishu in Africa. East.

Following sea routes established by his predecessors, he was often the first Chinese to land in several of his Arab destinations.

Around an upcoming Mint Tea ceremony , MAISON NANA1807 will tell you the story of Admiral Zheng He, considered the greatest Chinese explorer of all time.

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