thumb|Tunisian mint tea served with nuts
Maghrebi mint tea (Maghrebi Arabic: , ʾatāy; ), also known as Tunisian mint tea, Algerian mint tea, or Moroccan mint tea is a North African preparation of gunpowder green tea with spearmint leaves and sugar.
It is traditional to the Greater Maghreb region (the northwest African countries of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, and Mauritania). Its consumption has spread throughout North Africa, parts of the Sahel, France, Spain, the Arab world, and Middle East.
Mint tea is central to social life in the Maghreb and is very popular among the Tuareg people of Algeria, Libya, Niger and Mali. The serving can take a ceremonial form, especially when prepared for a guest. The tea is traditionally made by the head male in the family and offered to guests as a sign of hospitality. Typically, at least three glasses of tea are served. The tea is consumed throughout the day as a social activity. These diverge from the typical Arabic word for tea, (). According to Van Driem, ʾit-tāī originates from the Dutch language .
History
Gunpowder tea was introduced into North Africa by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries via Morocco and Algeria.
According to food historian, Helen Saberi, the drinking of green tea infused with mint spread from Morocco to Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and to nomadic tribes of Berbers and Tuareg in the Sahara.
Sugar and tea would arrive from Europe to the port of Essaouira, where Jewish merchants who had started migrating to coastal cities in the 19th century managed their passing through the interior of Morocco. James Richardson recorded a description of a Moroccan tea ceremony in the 1840s, and said that during his travels tea was drunk widely and all day long. In the twenty years after the Anglo-Moroccan Treaty of 1856, and after the British East India Company diverted tea meant for the Baltic states to Morocco during the Crimean War, Among urban populations, partaking in the tea ceremony became a symbol of status and , while among rural farmers it was a way to emulate the urban class they both envied and resented.
By the early 20th century, mint tea had become well established in Morocco.
Preparation
thumb|right|[[Sahrawi people|Saharawi tea ceremony]]
The basic ingredients of the tea are green tea, fresh mint leaves, sugar, and boiling water. Lemon verbena ( lwiza in Moroccan Arabic) is also used to give it a lemon flavor. Other herbs used to flavor the tea include oregano, sage, and thyme.