Moroccan Mint Tea with Rose

Elevate your tea time with an exotically flavoured delight. It’s worth the extra effort to craft this unique brew, and your guests who were expecting a teabag in a cup will be in awe. Warning: you may experience a sudden desire to pack your bags and travel to far off lands!

Prep Time
10 minutes
Servings
  • 5½ cups (1375 ml) boiling water 5½ cups (1375 ml) boiling water
  • 2 tbsp (15 g) Chinese gunpowder green tea, loose leaf 2 tbsp (15 g) Chinese gunpowder green tea, loose leaf
  • 1½ cups (24 g) fresh mint leaves (preferably spearmint), washed and dried 1½ cups (24 g) fresh mint leaves (preferably spearmint), washed and dried
  • 6 tbsp (75 g) Redpath Simply Raw™ Turbinado Sugar 6 tbsp (75 g) Redpath Simply Raw™ Turbinado Sugar

Garnishes:

  • 12 to 18 pcs dried rosebuds (for tea) 12 to 18 pcs dried rosebuds (for tea)
  • fresh mint fresh mint

Instructions

Step 1

Pour ½ cup (125 ml) boiling water into a teapot. Swirl to rinse and warm-up; discard water.

Step 2

Sprinkle the Chinese gunpowder green tea into the teapot. Add in ½ cup (125 ml) of boiling water and allow tea to steep for a minute; do not stir. If the teapot does not have a built-in strainer, carefully pour the tea (aka “spirit”) through a fine-mesh strainer into a cup and set aside until needed.

Pouring green tea leaves from a glass bowl into a white teapot

Pouring boiling water from a measuring cup into a white teapot

Pouring lightly steeped tea spirit into a glass measuring cup

Step 3

If using an external strainer or sieve, place any tea leaves that the sieve may have caught back into the teapot. Add in ½ cup (60 ml) of boiling water to the teapot. Allow tea to steep for a minute; swirl teapot to rinse leaves. 

Pouring boiling water from a glass measuring cup into a teapot of tea leaves and tea spirit

Step 4

Pour this liquid over a fine-mesh strainer (if teapot does not have a built-in strainer) into a cup or bowl; discard liquid. Place tea leaves back into the pot.

Pouring tea from a teapot into a measuring cup

Two measuring cups of tea, one light and one dark

Step 5

Roughly tear mint leaves and add to teapot. Sprinkle the Redpath Simply Raw™ Turbinado Sugar over the mint leaves. Add 4 cups (1000 ml) of freshly boiled water over the green tea, fresh mint, and turbinado sugar. Stir gently to dissolve sugar. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. 

Tearing mint leaves and putting them in a teapot

Pouring turbinado sugar from a measuring cup into a teapot of mint tea

Step 6

Gently stir in the reserved tea (“spirit”).

Pouring tea spirit from a glass measuring cup into a pot of mint tea

Step 7

Add 2 or 3 rosebuds to the bottom of each glass or teacup, pour the hot tea (use a strainer, if needed) over the rosebuds in each glass. Garnish tea with fresh mint. Serve immediately.

Five colourful glasses of Moroccan mint tea garnished with mint leaves on a gold platter

Chef's Tip

*Other herbs can be added when adding the mint, if desired, such as rosemary, sage, or lemon verbena.

*If Chinese gunpowder green tea is unavailable, use 1 tablespoon of Chinese green tea and 1 tablespoon of black tea. 

*For a stronger tea flavour, add an additional tablespoon (7 grams) of the Chinese gunpowder tea leaves.

You can substitute tea leaves for one tea bag of Chinese green tea and one tea bag of black tea.

*For a more traditional tea, omit rosebuds.