A custom we have been particularly happy to discover is the Senegalese love of tea. Forget having a quick cuppa, tea here is all about the ritual. Loose tea is used instead of tea bags and there is not a drop of milk in sight.
Rather than mugs it is served in small shot like glasses and comes in three delicious rounds: 1. Very strong and sweet 2. Weaker and much sweeter 3. (sometimes doesn’t make it) Really weak but very sweet.
The process of making the tea is as important, if not more, than the tea itself. Even when a modern cooker is available a small traditional coal burning stove is preferred. If this is being lit from scratch it makes the process even longer! Half the packet of tea is boiled up with water in a small enamel kettle.
After an unspecified amount of time, or when the brewer decides it is strong enough, it is taken off the heat and the pouring begins. There seems no rhyme or reason to this but it is an integral part of the ritual. Skills are shown off as tea is poured from glass to glass with as much height and speed as possible, which creates a head of foam. The execution is mesmerising. The tea is then returned to the pot with a sizable quantity of sugar and some cool water. The brew is brought to the boil once again and the pouring repeated, this can go on for some time!
When it is ready the potent inch or so of tea you receive is like amrit so definitely worth the wait!! As the rounds proceed more leaves, cold water and a hefty amount of sugar are added but less time is spent brewing. All in all drinking tea can take hours making sure no conversational stone is left unturned and a new friend is always made.
Drinking tea is something we love and however different the custom it is nice to know that a good brew brings people together here too. Everybody Loves Tea
