Moroccan Mint Tea

On Wednesday afternoon this week, the Cycling 4 All team at university teamed up with local businesses and a few groups within the university itself to deliver the Food Festival, a 3 hour lunch to celebrate food, Fairtrade fortnight, locally-sourced products, and home-grown foods.  There was a banana cake baking competition, the Sustrans smoothie bike, Jamie's Ministry of Food, and other stalls, as well as a quiz where you had to guess which items could be Fairtrade and which could not.  Did you know that you can have Fairtrade gold?  I found a recipe card for the following Moroccan mint tea at a stall for Food on Campus, which is an initiative run by the university to encourage students and staff to plant, grow and harvest their own fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Ingredients (to serve 6)

10 sprigs fresh mint, plus extra to decorate
3 teaspoons green tea
3 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
4 cups water

Instructions

1. Boil the water and pour a small amount in the teapot, swishing it around to warm the pot.
2. Combine the mint and green tea and sugar in the teapot, then fill it with the rest of the hot water.
3. Let the tea brew for three minutes.
4. Set out glasses for the tea, preferable tumblers to match the style of the glasses used in Morocco.
5. Fill just one glass with the tea, then pour it back into the pot.  Repeat this action to help to dissolve the tea and distribute the sugar.
6. Pour the tea.  Aim to have a foam on the surface of the tea by pouring with the teapot a high distance above the glasses.  If you do not have at least a little foam on the top of the first glass, then pour it back into the teapot and try again until the tea starts to foam up nicely.
7. Decorate with the remaining sprigs of mint.