Sometimes you want a Moroccan-ish cup of tea, but there’s no gunpowder tea around, black tea tastes like it’s from England and green tea tastes like it’s from China. And don’t get me started on that herbal mint tea nonsense.

This is as close to a Moroccan tea experience as I could get, using a combination of ordinary teabags that were already in the house. It’s served the way they do it in Tangiers – in a tall drinking glass with the mint leaves in the glass and not in the teapot.

Moroccan Mint Tea (the easy way)

Makes 1 large or 2 small servings

Ingredients:

5-7 fresh mint leaves
1 bag of green tea
1 bag of black tea
2 T sugar, separated

Preparation:

While boiling water, crush the mint leaves by crumpling them with your fingers and drop them in the glass.

Place the teabags in the teapot along with one tablespoon of sugar (if you like your tea sweeter, make it a heaping spoonful).

Once the water boils, pour it over the tea, give it a good stir (to help the tea leaves infuse through the bags) and cover. Let sit for 2-3 minutes.

Next, pour out about half the tea and add more hot water and another spoonful of sugar. Let it infuse for another 4-5 minutes.

Pour over the mint leaves – it’s standard practice to pour dramatically, lifting the teapot as high as possible. This gives a nice flair to the act of serving the tea and also creates a pleasant, bubbly foam atop the tea.