Making your own Moroccan Mint

Most of us are already familiar with Moroccan Mint in dry form, often also called Touareg. Touareg is however a special tea drink prepared in African and Arabian countries and has a great significance in the Moroccan culture. It is a sign of hospitality, friendship and tradition,served to guests in a ceremonial way.

In order to prepare Morrocoan Mint Tea Drink you will need Gunpowder (a Chinese green tea of smoky character, rolled into small pellets resembling gunpowder), fresh mint leaves and sugar. Additional flavorings can sometimes be added added, like lemon or ginger for instance. The amounts you use are a matter of individual preference, but as a good rule you should count one teaspoon of Gunpowder per glass. In traditional Moroccan Mint there is quite a lot of sugar added even 5 cubes, so don’t be shy with the sugar, as this drink is meant to be very sweet. Like with all drinks however, you should experiment with ingredients according to individual taste.

How it’s done

1. Boil some water and pour some into the empty pot, swish the water around, so that the pot gets warm, then pour the water out 
2. Put the tea, mint leaves and sugar (preferably plain white sugar) directly into the pot or infuser
3. Let it steep for about 3 minutes
4. Pour tea into one glass and then pour it back into the pot. You can repeat this several times in order to evenly distribute sugar and flavor
5. Fill the cups, by pouring the tea from high up. this will create foam on top of the drink
6. Garnish drink with some mint leaves or a optionally a lemon slice

Traditionally the tea is prepared by the host or hostess who sits in from of a tray with two pots and decorative glasses, as well as the ingredients for the tea. The pots are rinsed with hot water and then tea leaves are added to each pot. The leaves are also rinsed the same way and water is poured out. The host then adds mint and sugar and lets the tea steep for several minutes, after which he stirs the tea making sure that the flavor is evenly mixed.  He then pours the tea simultaneously from both pots from a height of 30 cm or more into the guests’ glasses and fills them halfway. The host adds some more ingredients for the next cups. The second serving is the most famous for its sweetness and intense flavors. The guests should drink at least 3 glasses of Moroccan Mint.

 

London Fog

London Fog is a tea drink or tea latte first invented in Vancouver, Canada. This beverage also known as Vanilla Tea Misto or just Earl Grey Tea Misto consists of Earl Grey tea, milk and vanilla syrup. Originally London Fog was made with Peppermint Tea in 2006. Other variations of London Fog are Manchester Fog (with soy milk instead of regular milk and sugar-free syrup) and Seattle Fog also known as No Wang’s Special (with soy, water, vanilla and hazelnut syrup). There are places that make London Fog (for example Starbucks) but it’s usually an off-menu item and you have to ask for it.

How to make London Fog?

To make one glass you will need one bag of Earl Grey or the equivalent of loose leaf tea, enough to make a fairly strong essence which will still have a rich flavor after mixing with milk. You also need about 450ml of heated milk, preferably steamed milk if you have access to a steamer and a shot of vanilla syrup.

1. First you have to make a small amount of tea to make an essence, you can add 125ml of boiling water to the tea bag, leaving it to steep for 3-4min

2. You add heated milk/steamed milk to the Earl Grey essence

3. Add vanilla syrup according to taste