Africa

West Africa Region

West Africa is located between the Sahara Desert, Lake Chad, and the Gulf of Guinea. West Africa typically includes countries such as Mauritania, Western Sahara, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, and the Canary Islands, comprising a total of 17 countries and regions.

Most of West Africa lies within or around the world's largest desert, the Sahara, with its climate and dietary characteristics similar to those of North African countries like Morocco. Therefore, the majority of people here also enjoy drinking Tea. They are accustomed to adding sugar and using mint leaves (or juice) for flavoring when they drink tea.

Mauritanian Tea Customs

Mauritania is located in the western part of the Sahara Desert in Africa, with over ninety percent of its territory being desert areas, making it a country primarily based on animal husbandry. It is said that the history of Tea drinking in Mauritania originated in the 16th century, introduced from Spain initially.

Flag of Mauritania

Drinking green tea is a deeply ingrained habit among the people of Mauritania. Due to the arid and hot climate, which can easily lead to fatigue, and a diet mainly consisting of beef, mutton, and camel milk, which results in an unbalanced nutrition, tea helps with digestion, revitalizes the spirit, relieves fatigue, and replenishes vitamins.

Mint Green Tea

In Mauritania, there is also the custom of serving tea to guests. When expecting visitors, hosts will prepare tea in advance. Traditionally, the method used is boiling tea, meaning that once water in a small kettle has boiled, tea leaves are added along with sugar and fresh mint leaves, then placed on a charcoal stove or kerosene stove to boil, creating a mint-flavored tea broth.

Fresh Mint Leaves

The basic etiquette is considered complete after three rounds of tea have been served between host and guest. The first round is a small amount of very strong and bitter mint-flavored tea broth, followed by a slightly sweeter tea broth with more mint flavor, and finally, a sweet tea broth with a strong mint flavor. Typically, three to four cubes of sugar are added to a small cup of tea.

Women Preparing Tea in Mauritania

The “three rounds of tea” is a traditional tea-drinking custom, but now some people in Mauritania no longer follow this practice so strictly. Tea drinking is generally based on personal needs, and more often involves Steeping rather than boiling.

Chinese Rain Tea “8147”

Due to the high temperatures and dryness, Mauritania is not suitable for growing tea, and to date, there is no domestically produced tea, with all tea relying on imports.

A large portion of the tea comes from China. In Mauritania, locals refer to Chinese tea as “8147,” in other words, “8147” is almost synonymous with the name and brand of Chinese tea, and they consider it to be the best tea. The term “8147” refers to a code for Chinese export green tea, which is essentially rain tea, a variety formed during the processing of Pingshui Pearl Tea. Due to its stable quality, “8147” has always been popular in Mauritania.

Images: Some sourced from the internet

References: Guan Jianping, “World Tea culture”

Yao Guokun, “Illustrated World Tea Culture”