Attaya

Ingredients

Tea

• 50 gChinese gunpowder green tea
• 1.5 litreswater, in stages
• 200–300 gsugar, added in stages
• 1small bunch fresh mint (for the second and third rounds)

Equipment

• a small enamel or metal teapot
• two small glasses for pouring
• a charcoal brazier or a low gas ring

Directions

1. Put the tea leaves in the pot, cover with a little boiling water, swirl and pour it off after 30 seconds. This first rinse takes off the dust and the harshest bitterness.
2. Add 500 ml water and set the pot on low heat. Bring it slowly to a simmer and let it steep about 15 minutes.
3. Pour a glassful, then pour it back into the pot. Repeat several times, raising the pouring glass higher each time so the tea falls a long way and aerates. Attaya is judged on the head of foam this builds.
4. Add sugar to the pot — the first round takes the least — and continue pouring back and forth until a thick stable foam sits on the surface.
5. Serve the first round in small glasses, each about a third full, with a good head. This round is bitter and strong, and is meant to be: the saying is that the first is bitter like death.
6. Return the same leaves to the pot, add another 500 ml water and a handful of mint, more sugar, and repeat the process for the second round — gentler, sweeter, mint-scented, like life.
7. Do it a third time with the last of the water and the most sugar. The third is sweet like love, and by then an hour and a half has passed, which is the entire point of attaya. It is a social occasion, not a drink to be hurried.

Technique

• The pouring is not showmanship. Aerating the tea softens the tannins and builds the foam that a well-made attaya is judged by.
• Use the same leaves for all three rounds. Fresh leaves each time would make it undrinkably strong.
• Small glasses, small pours. A full glass of attaya is not how it is served.

Substitutions

• Any gunpowder green tea works; the specific brands sold across Senegal and Gambia are a matter of loyalty.
• A metal jug and a small saucepan will do if you have no attaya pot.

Variations

• Ataya in Senegal, atai in Mauritania, and the Moroccan mint tea it is related to.
• A version with a little evaporated milk in the third round, drunk in parts of Gambia.

History

The three-round green tea ritual takes hours and is a social institution among Gambian men, brewed on small charcoal stoves at roadside gatherings.

Frequently asked questions

What is Attaya?

Attaya is a drink from Gambia: long social brewing of green tea, poured frothy in small glasses. The three-round green tea ritual takes hours and is a social institution among Gambian men, brewed on small charcoal stoves at roadside gatherings.

How long does Attaya take to make?

Attaya takes 10 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 3 rounds for 4 people. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Attaya?

Yes, within limits. Any gunpowder green tea works; the specific brands sold across Senegal and Gambia are a matter of loyalty. A metal jug and a small saucepan will do if you have no attaya pot.

What is the most important thing to get right in Attaya?

Do it a third time with the last of the water and the most sugar. The third is sweet like love, and by then an hour and a half has passed, which is the entire point of attaya. It is a social occasion, not a drink to be hurried.