Iced Moroccan-Style Spearmint Tea

In Morocco, mint tea is normally served scalding hot, sweet enough to make a dentist wince, and poured from a long spout into small glasses from a height that creates foam. This iced version keeps everything that makes the original great—the sweetness, the powerful aroma, the theatrical pour—just cold.

Traditional Moroccan tea uses both gunpowder green and a heap of fresh spearmint. For an all-herbal version, double the spearmint and skip the green tea entirely. The result is brighter and cleaner, with no astringency, and naturally caffeine-free.

The sugar is non-negotiable. North African mint tea is sweet—genuinely sweet, not California-coffee-shop sweet—and that's the point. The sugar balances the powerful aromatic mint and turns the drink into something genuinely refreshing in heat. Use granulated white sugar; honey doesn't quite work here.

Brew the mint hot, sweeten while warm so the sugar dissolves completely, then chill thoroughly before serving over crushed ice. Pour from a height of about twenty centimeters into the glass to aerate it. Garnish with a generous mint sprig and a tiny pinch of pine nuts in the Moroccan style.