A Tea Cocktail for Marrakech

Marrakech is a city full of twists, turns and surprises (some great, some rather scammy). Mint tea drew me there. I don’t remember when, but some years ago I saw a photo of men sitting outside drinking mint tea. It was long before the rise of packaged moroccan mint tea that’s available now on any store shelf.

I went with my ex in May. We’d just started speaking again and somehow decided to plan a trip that came about when he said he was going to be in Lisbon and maybe I could meet him there. What started as an offhand comment turned into real plans. And along the way, Lisbon turned into meeting in Marrakech.

I quickly learned that getting to Morocco was a bit more complicated than other places. But also, it offered way more than the mint tea that I’d hoped to find. As we hopped from riad to rooftop cafe to riad to rooftop cafe to the Sahara desert, I fell in love with Marrakech and Morocco in general.

And after the trip, I realized that I still loved everything him. However, I also realized that I actually did need commitment that he wasn’t able to offer. (I also needed to spend some time figuring out why I was willing to accept less for so long.)

In hindsight, our 9 hour trek to the Sahara dessert was probably the closure that we both needed. It’s been a few months since things ended (again) officially. I’m happy for the time that we spent in Morocco and I’m grateful that I’m still able to look back on Marrakech fondly despite how things turned out with him .

On the last day in Marrakech, I sat on the roof of Shatto, a new bar that had only opened 39 days prior. It was the first time that I strayed away from my usual mint tea order and opted for verbena with tea instead. This cocktail uses verbena that I brought back, but you can order some online. It’s an easy sipper and reminds me to soak in each experience that the day brings. It’s named after the Atlas Mountains that we trekked through to get to the Sahara desert.

At Last

1.5 oz Cathead Vodka
2 oz Verbena tea
.75 oz honey syrup
.25 oz lemon juice

1.Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Shake until cold.
3. Strain into tea cup over ice.
4. Garnish with lemon.