Etiquette for Moroccan Tea

Tea as Served by the Moors

“In Morocco, drinking tea together is an invitation to witness and participate in an important part of the culture.”
From www.partaste.com/

Tea a la Morocco is made by putting the requisite amount of leaves in the teapot, and pouring a small amount of hot water over them and immediately pouring it off again. This frees the tea from dust or any foreign matter, which by accident or design may have been mixed with it. After the first water has been turned off sugar is put in the teapot, one lump for each cup; the pot is then filled with boiling water and allowed to stand for a few minutes. Neither milk nor cream is ever used. Freshly gathered leaves of wild thyme, or verbena, are often added to give flavor to the beverage.

                                                   

Old Moroccan Tea Service

Etiquette governing tea-drinking among the Moors is curious. The host invariably takes a little from the cup before offering it to his guests. The Grand Vizier Sid Musa went further than this; he not only took a sip before offering the cup. but he invariably took it again when half had been drunk and finished the remainder himself. This ceremony arises from the fact that killing by poisoned tea is as common a mode of getting rid of a rival in Morocco as disposing of one's enemies by the deadly cup of coffee is in Turkey or Egypt. As in feudal Japan, a Samurai had always to leave his sword in charge of the servant at the outer gate, to prove that his visit was one of peace, so the Moorish host takes half of each cup of tea offered to his guests to show them that their lives are not in danger. —Los Angeles Herald, 1899

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