Tea and Coffee

Though tea is conceivably the most important and/or influential aspect of a Moroccans life, I was shocked to discover that this imported beverage was only beginning to be introduced to native Moroccans by the English and French in the early 1800’s. Since that time, it has dominated the Moroccan social calendar so that it is not uncommon to sit for tea 5-6 times a day.
Moroccans prefer their tea very hot and very sweet. As a result, there is a special sugar used for tea which is distinguished from regular granulated sugar as being sweeter. This special tea-sugar comes all in one piece like a sugar cube, but in the form of a tall skinny cone shape called a “kelb”, which is maybe 16” tall and 4-5”across at the base. Moroccans shatter these sugar-cones into large chunks using a rock or large metal rod. They then choose the appropriate size of sugar shard depending on the size of the teapot and amount of tea inside. Having witnessed the size choosing and inclusion of these diabetes rocks, I can safely estimate that Moroccan tea is consistently at least ¼ sugar. The tea is heated to boiling twice before serving, and again later if it starts to cool down. As if to underscore the piping temperature, tea is served in tiny shot glasses, which for the uninitiated, often scald the fingertips and lips.
While pouring tea, it customary to raise the teapot far above the glass, which should create a frothy “tarabush”(hat), proof that the tea is high quality. However, even high quality tea should be rinsed at least once or twice before brewing because it is not “clean” and will appear muddy when served. To preserve the flavor and caffeine(a chemical which is oddly unknown even to educated Moroccans), the process for rinsing the tea leaves is as follows. Pour in a full tea glass of boiling water into the tea leaves and after a very short time pour this out and save it for later. Now pour in enough water to cover the tea leaves and swish it around fervently in order to clean off the leaves. Pour this water out into a container of some kind (not into the sink because of some religious or mystical tradition which I can’t fully understand). Repeat this step until you think the tea is clean. Once the tea is clean, add the original saved cup-with the flavor and caffeine-back into the pot and fill the rest with boiling water to the desired amount of tea. Now you may add a large chunk of sugar and put the pot on the fire until it is boiling. Finally, pour out two tea cups and dump them back into the top of the teapot in order to mix the sugar. If you want, it is good manners to let somebody test it before serving.
For those that desire alternatives, coffee is also served in Morocco and in many families, tea and coffee are served together. Bigger cities have numerous coffee shops, all of which serve tea and espresso with various percentages of milk or water. Perhaps the most popular coffee order-and my favorite-is the “café ns ns“(½ and ½), which is half espresso and half steamed milk. The “bled”(countryside) of Morocco, does not have espresso machines, but rather is known for its own special style of coffee which is preferably brewed in whole milk instead of water, and spiced and sweetened so that it almost resembles Indian “chia” tea. When brewed in water, and depending on how it is spiced (families recipes include anything from mint to peppercorn), these coffee recipes can also, oddly enough, taste a bit like piping hot coca cola (Beverage side note: Coke and all other sodas are referred to as “leemonada”, and a “leemon“ is an orange; suggesting that the first soda to become popular among Berbers was probably an orange flavor like “Fanta”). While milk can be purchased at local t’Hanuts in boxes that do not require refrigeration, luck families, like my current host-family, get their milk for a cow. Recently, I stood amongst the hay and clucking chickens outside my house watching my host-mother milk her cow. When she had filled one small bucket, she gave it to me saying “Eammr L’qHwa”(make the coffee). Maybe fifteen minutes later, I was enjoying a sweet creamy beverage made from what must have been the freshest milk that has ever passed my lips. With such fascinating traditions and delicious beverage options, its hard to complain, although I do sometimes find myself daydreaming about ice, which to my chagrin does not exist in Morocco.