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28 JUNE 2018
Journey through the colours of mint
In balmy summer days, Tea Route craves for a mint tea, cordially inviting you to Morocco for a flavoursome and sweet-smelling experience. Luxuriate in a different kind of ceremony with the famed Moroccan spearmint tea, using 100 leaves for every litre.
To make this tea, spearmint leaves (Nanah spearmint in Arabic), Gunpowder tea and generous amounts of sugar are required. The tea is then served in small glass cup. During the winter, when spearmint is hard to come by, this tea can be made with absinthe leaves (Artemisia absinthium). Marrakesh Tea
It is said that Mint tea first appeared around 1850 during the Crimean war, when a British tea merchant found himself stuck in Morocco with his merchandise - cargo of Gunpowder tea - and unable to travel to the countries of the Baltic.
Discover the organically-grown green Gunpowder tea from China’s Zhejiang province.
Gunpowder
In Gunpowder tea, every tea leaf is wrapped into small, round balls. Thus, its name may have come from these balls’ resemblance to gunpowder pellets or, alternatively, that perhaps the English term may derive from the Mandarin phrase gāng pào de, meaning freshly brewed, and sounds a little like the word ‘gunpowder’.
Spearmint
In the Herbal category, discover Spearmint. You’ll be glad to learn that consuming fragrant spearmint (Mentha spicata) is entirely compatible with homeopathic treatments.
Recipe:
How to make your own mint tea
You can make Marrakesh tea which already contains dried spearmint leaves or you can follow the classic recipe from Morocco we are giving you here. This is not an individual tea but one which is shared with friends.
For 1 litre of tea
Put 10 g of gunpowder tea or 2 tablespoons in a teapot. Add a little water, stir well and throw away the first water after one minute. This process removes the bitterness of the tea.
Fill the teapot with mint leaves and twigs, generous amounts of sugar and refill with boiling water. Allow to brew for 7-8 minutes. Serve in glass cups.
For iced mint tea, store the brew in the fridge once it has reached room temperature. Serve with ice and fresh spearmint leaves.
