Chef Zohra
Atay b Chiba (Moroccan Wormwood Tea)
The cold-evening cousin of mint tea: gunpowder green tea brewed with chiba, the bitter winter herb Moroccans use when na'na is scarce and the house needs warming.
Culinary Explorer
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Skinjbir (Moroccan Ginger Tea)
Created by
Fresh ginger bites first, then the green tea comes behind it: strong, sweet, peppery, and poured when the house needs warmth more than ceremony.
Beverages
Moroccan
Comfort Food
Weeknight
5 min
Active Time
10 min cook•15 min total
Yield4 small glasses
The ginger tells you what this drink is before the glass reaches your mouth. It bites the nose, warms the throat, and wakes a tired body without asking permission. Skinjbir is not the polite mint tea you pour for a long visit. It is the cup you make when someone comes in chilled, coughing, or carrying the grey day on their shoulders.
Use fresh ginger and bruise it well. That is the gesture that matters. Thin slices look pretty, but crushed ginger gives itself to the water, and this tea needs that peppery strength. The green tea brings tannin and body, the sugar rounds the sharpness, and together they make a small kitchen medicine that still belongs at the table.
Brew it strong, but don't punish the tea leaves. Rinse them quickly, then let the ginger work in the hot water before the final steep. Serve it in small glasses, refill without making a speech, and keep one chair ready. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte.
Skinjbir takes its name from the Moroccan Arabic word for ginger, rooted in the older Arabic zanjabil, a spice known across North Africa through medieval Indian Ocean and Saharan trade routes. Green tea entered Moroccan daily life much later, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries through Atlantic trade, so this drink joins an older medicinal spice habit to the newer national tea ritual. Its exact regional origin is not firmly dated, and families from Oujda to Casablanca make it by memory rather than by a written canon.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Chinese gunpowder green tea
Quantity
1 tbsp
fresh ginger
Quantity
25g
scrubbed and lightly crushed
sugar
Quantity
3 to 4 tbsp, or to taste
water
Quantity
600ml
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Chinese gunpowder green tea | 1 tbsp |
| fresh gingerscrubbed and lightly crushed | 25g |
| sugar | 3 to 4 tbsp, or to taste |
| water | 600ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Small Moroccan teapot or heatproof teapot, about 750ml
- •Small saucepan
- •Fine strainer
- •Small tea glasses
Instructions
- 1
Crush the ginger
Scrub the ginger well and cut it into thin coins, then press each coin with the flat of a knife or a pestle until it cracks. Don't mince it. Cracked ginger gives the water its heat and perfume while staying easy to strain.
- 2
Rinse the tea
Put the green tea in a small teapot, cover it with a splash of just-boiled water, swirl for a few seconds, and pour that water away. This quick rinse takes off the first harsh bitterness so the ginger can be strong without the tea turning rough.
Move quickly here. The leaves should wake up, not sit and stew. - 3
Infuse the ginger
Bring the 600ml water to a boil in a small pot, add the crushed ginger, lower the heat, and let it tremble gently for 5 minutes. The water should turn pale gold and smell sharp and warm.
- 4
Steep and sweeten
Pour the hot ginger water over the rinsed tea leaves in the teapot. Add the sugar, stir, and steep for 3 to 4 minutes. Taste once. La balance est dans les yeux, and in the mouth: add sugar if the ginger bites too hard, or a splash of hot water if the tea has gone too stern.
- 5
Pour and serve
Strain into small glasses and serve at once, amber and clear, with the ginger heat sitting at the back of the throat. If the first glass tastes stronger than the last, pour it back into the pot once and serve again so every guest receives the same cup.
Chef Tips
- •Use fresh ginger with tight skin and a clean snap. Old fibrous ginger gives heat, yes, but little perfume.
- •Sugar belongs in the pot, not only in each glass. It rounds the ginger while the tea is still hot, so the drink tastes whole.
- •For a harder cold-day cup, use a little more ginger before you use more tea. Too much green tea turns bitter faster than ginger turns generous.
Advance Preparation
- •Wash and crush the ginger up to 4 hours ahead, then cover it and keep it cool.
- •Skinjbir is at its best freshly steeped. If it sits too long with the tea leaves, it turns bitter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 150g)
Calories
50 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
5 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
11 g
Protein
0 g
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