Little Red Cup teas are nearly all single varieties, unmodified and certainly straightforward. We don't have Cantaloupe Hibiscus Rose Surprise or anything like that. The only slight exceptions until now have been Jasmine, a traditional and very popular tea in China, and Russian Caravan, a blend of three Chinese teas — again, very traditional. Moroccan Mint is the first time we've gone further afield, and we think you'll like it.
The brew goes back more than 200 years — tea was already woven into Moroccan life by the early 1800s, and Chinese Gunpowder Green is the style the tradition settled on. It travels well: rolled tight, it survives a long voyage without going stale. And it's assertive enough to stand up to a great deal of mint and rather more sugar, which a more delicate tea simply couldn't. The traditional preparation is a project: boil the gunpowder for at least 15 minutes, producing an incredibly strong and astonishingly bitter brew. Add both fresh and dried spearmint, then enough sugar to make the scalding-hot result drinkable. It is a drink of excess — both bitter and highly sweet. We've had tea in Morocco. We once tried it without sugar, and immediately requested sugar.
What we have here is something a bit more palatable: a blend of our Organic Gunpowder Green and organic dried spearmint, in equal parts. Brewed the way most of us ordinarily make tea, the result is a very minty cup with lots of body — one that doesn't require sweetening, but will happily accept it.
Moroccan Mint is a style, not a place. Ours isn't imported from Morocco. The gunpowder is grown organically in Jiangxi Province by a worker-owned cooperative we've worked with for years; the spearmint is organic and grown in the USA.
**Brewing:** 180°F water, 2 minutes 30 seconds, 2 teaspoons (1.5 g) per 8 oz cup. It comes out a nice gold. The leaves will take a re-steep.
**For a taste of Marrakesh:** brew it stronger and add heaping spoonfuls of sugar. Traditionally it's served scalding hot, and sweet enough to make you reconsider your dentist.
**Iced:** excellent. Same brew, over ice.
Q: What does Moroccan Mint tea taste like?
A: Bright, cooling spearmint up front over the smooth, lightly smoky body of gunpowder green — it brews a dark gold, not green. Very minty, with lots of body, and none of the bitterness the traditional 15-minute-boil version is known for. Brewed light it's clean and refreshing; brewed stronger and sweetened, it's a taste of Marrakesh.
Q: Is this an herbal tea or does it have caffeine?
A: It has caffeine — it's real green tea blended with real mint, not an herbal infusion. But there's less of it than in a straight green tea, because half the blend is caffeine-free spearmint. Brew it light and it drinks much like an herbal tea; brew it stronger for more lift.
Q: Is this a flavored tea?
A: No. There are exactly two ingredients: organic Gunpowder Green tea and organic dried spearmint. No flavoring oils, no additives. The mint taste comes from actual dried mint leaf, the way Moroccan mint tea has been made for over 200 years.
Q: Do I have to add sugar?
A: No. Traditional Moroccan preparation is sweetened heavily — it has to be, because boiling gunpowder for 15 minutes makes it astonishingly bitter. Ours doesn't need it. Brewed normally, it's a minty cup with plenty of body that doesn't require sweetening, but will happily accept it.
Q: How do I make it Moroccan style?
A: Brew it stronger and add heaping spoonfuls of sugar — traditionally more than you'd think reasonable — and serve it scalding hot. Add fresh mint on top if you have it.
Q: Is it good iced?
A: Excellent iced. Brew it as usual and pour it over ice. Sweetened or not, it's one of the more refreshing iced teas we make.
