Moroccan Tea Ceremony

The traditional Moroccan art of serving tea

Imported from China in the 12th century, green tea is the favorite drink of Moroccans. Quickly adopted by all social classes, it is tasted on average five times a day - commonly known as "Atay", the traditional tea ceremony.

Origins

In Islam, the concept of hospitality is triangular - it consists of God, the guest and the host.
For the guest, hospitality is a right rather than a gift ,
For the host, hospitality is a duty towards God, then towards his guest.
The Moroccan tea ceremony includes four main principles: < / p>

• مرحبا (Marhaba) - Welcome
• سلام (Salam) - Peace
• بركة (Barakah) - Blessing
• الحمد لله (Alhamdulillah) - Gratitude

Today, this same philosophy is still taught in schools. The Master of Ceremonies often has multidisciplinary training in cultural, philosophical and scientific fields. In fact, teaching and practicing is the experience of life, and the disciple always listens to his Mâalam (Master).

Traditionally, men perform the tea ceremony more regularly than women during major ceremonies.

Utensils for the Moroccan mint tea ceremony

The Master of Ceremonies surrounds himself with the following objects:

In its most traditional version, the highly codified protocol asks guests to bring gifts, depending on the circumstances and the means of each guest

Moroccan tea room

As in the tales of the Thousand and One Nights, the Moroccan tea room is a farandole of floor mats and a multitude of cushions. A generous invitation to travel to the highest place of spirituality…

Comfort is an important element in the Moroccan tea room. The seats are often low to the ground, and the sofas are very plush and plentiful. The tables are sometimes as low as the ground to accommodate the low seats. To capitalise on making the space as comfortable as possible, curtains and textiles are also very present. The floors are often covered with pretty Berber rugs, with hand-woven throws and cushions.

An awning over the living room seats creates a warm Moroccan atmosphere. And the lighting brings more warmth, thanks to lamps, lanterns and handcrafted copper or brass sconces, finely chiseled with geometric shapes. On the walls are many mirrors decorated with mosaic tiles (Zelliges), in order to bring more light and the feeling of space.

Procedure

There are several types of ceremonies depending on the mint tea (light, sweet, bitter, strong) served.

Here is a description of the most often encountered tea ceremony (the short version) where a green tea - Gunpowder - with fresh mint (naturally sweet) is tasted:

1. Purification - The Tea Master, dressed in traditional clothes, begins by greeting (Salam Alaikum) his guests, then places the various kitchen utensils in their defined position. The towels are used to clean the glasses (Kess) and the teapot (Barad). Then the host pours hot water into the teapot to warm it up, and rinse it before brewing mint tea. The fresh mint was washed with fresh water and rinsed beforehand.
2. Preparation - The master places two spoons of green tea - Gunpowder in the teapot, which corresponds to approximately three grams. He adds hot water and stirs the teapot in an elliptical rotation. The movement begins with a slight rotation to unify the brew. Then, a firm and rapid back and forth movement should be made up and down. This first beverage is poured into a glass, awaiting the final preparation. The Master adds hot water to the teapot, and starts the rotary movements again to remove any impurities from the green tea. This new mixture is poured and then discarded because it is very bitter and impure.The Host can then add a natural sweetener (gave syrup or organic stevia leaf powder), and fresh mint, and fill the teapot with hot water (around 90 ° C). The Master lets the mixture infuse in the teapot on low heat for two minutes. Then the Master pours the mixture into two tea glasses, and returns the mixture from the glasses to the teapot to continue the infusion while oxygenating the mint tea. This operation is repeated several times under the expert eye of the Master. As the foam appears more and more at the top of the glasses, all of the aromas have merged for an excellent flavor from this first infusion.
3. Tasting - Prepared in this way, tea can be served to guests of honor, serving them from right to left. Before tasting, all guests should be served a glass of mint tea. Then everyone raises their glass in respect for the host and says the phrase "Bismil'Allah" (In the name of God). Drinking from the front side is an unforgivable error of etiquette. Mint tea is drunk in several small sips, without ever putting the glass back on the table. When all the guests' glasses are on the table, an assistant clears the tables and brings in new glasses for a second and then the third and final tasting.
4. Thank You - The host thanks all of the guests for agreeing to share this mint tea. All the guests in turn thank him and make divine invocations to reward the Master of Ceremonies and his family for their generous hospitality.

In the long version, guests then taste Moroccan cuisine, often around couscous or tagine. Accompanied by mint tea, the experience ends with a selection of Moroccan pastries.

For the shorter version, only the selection of pastries is shown.

Attend a ceremony

TASTE THE DIFFERENCE & SHARE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BEST MINT TEA