Global Tea Culture in Morocco

Welcome to the Connected Cup limited series. My name is Brooke Bierhaus. I am a coffee culture expert, anthropologist, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. On this limited series, I take you with me around the world through nine countries with interviews in nine languages, proving the idea that coffee and tea are a global language of connection. We can all speak through humanity when we share a common cup. So I'm doing something a little bit different. I love the Connected Cup. I love the Connected Cup documentary itself. It is my baby, but I understand that watching a full feature length documentary isn't always feasible for people. And sometimes you just want to enjoy content in chunks. So I have decided to do a Connected Cup limited series. And if you love this episode, then you will love the previous ones too. So I've linked those all below in the show notes, and I hope you will take a look. Let me know what you think, like, comment, and share with your friends. We are getting a little bit of a break from coffee and going straight into tea. Specifically, we're going to look at a tea, which is in Moroccan culture, gunpowder, green tea, mint, and a ton of sugar. It's incredible. And we're going to share a tea with my friends in Merzouga and the Sahara desert in Morocco, that we're going to look at Berber nomadic culture. It's really important that we talk about the Amazigh language, Berber Amazigh language, as it is declining in certain regions, because most of our generation are learning French, German, English, Spanish, and not so much the Berber Amazigh language. So we will get into language preservation since I am an anthropologist and that does interest me, but we will also be talking about the significance of a So as you are watching our interviews and our journey through Morocco, I hope that you keep in mind the tea journey and tea ceremonies being enjoyed in three rounds. All right, let's go. In Moroccan culture, an invitation to drink tea is a truly meaningful act of hospitality and friendship. Drinking tea is a savored sedentary experience. A tea means a form of hospitality, but also tea is usually enjoyed together with family or friends. At your home, when you need to host somebody or a friend, you have to welcome it with a cup of tea. The Berber people today are descendants of the indigenous pre-Arab inhabitants of northern Africa. Throughout history, Berbers have been nomadic people. However, today most Berber families are farmers, traders, shop owners, or they work in tourism. While Morocco's official languages are Arabic and Berber Amazigh, many of the Berber families I talked to voiced their concerns about the historical language fading in the new generation. Since many teens and young adults are learning English, Spanish, and French instead of their Berber Amazigh language. I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into many Berber homes in the Sahara during my stay. And while I only picked up a few words and phrases to say in Amazigh, I can attest for the kindness and hospitality shown by the people of Morocco. I was told that the desert is one of nature's greatest healers. I was advised during my stay to be open to the Sahara because it has the ability to make one vibrate with happiness, to be humbled, and to find answers if we let it resonate within us. I understood these words the minute I walked barefoot in the dunes, and I watched the sunset on my first night in the Sahara. And I was shown a glimpse of my own roots the night we built a fire under the new moon in the cold sand, and I felt that I was meant to be right there, curled up against my camel Jimmy, listening to the traditional songs being sung, and dancing to the drums as the night went on.