So, how do the restaurants make this elixir?
I have neither a full recipe nor a full understanding of all that is involved or if all purveyors of “Lebanese tea” are in fact serving the same thing.
There is (was?) a Lebanese restaurant that I used to go to in New Orleans that served their version of a Lebanese iced tea that was super-duper yummy! I don’t know what kind of tea was used but I know they used Rose Water and on the surface they floated a bunch of yummy Pine Nuts!
I don’t know whether or not this is similar to your experience but it’s what I was served and I LOVED IT!
What you had might have been Kahwe Baida, or “white coffee”. The name is misleading as there is absolutely no coffee in this drink. Here’s the recipe:
1 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp orange blossom extract
citrus shavings
Mix everything and boil for 2 minutes, filter and serve at the end of the meal.
That’s the standard recipe, but I don’t see why you couldn’t add rose water to the mix.
I’ve had Lebanese coffee. Man it was good.
I don’t know a recipe, but it had a very strong cardamom taste - like espresso made with ground cardamom.
Darn. I misread. I thought this was about lesbian tea. I wanted to watch.
If you are talking about common tea in the Mid east (Turkey, Syria, the Gulf etc.)…
The tea is cooked in a samovar which is basically a double boiler. Put lots of water in the bottom pot. In the top pot (which is heated by the water below and not by a flame), put a smaller qty of water and lose tea (and often mint leaves).
The tea in the top is never allowed to boil - just slowly cook in warm/hot water. It can cook 30 minutes or more.
To serve, pour a bit of the concentrated tea into a glass and balance it with water… you’ll have to experiment with the ratios.
I am not sure if you can buy a double boiler in the US as I got mine in Turkey along with the small curved glasses (remeber that teat tastes better when served in glass rather than ceramic).
Those are fighting words my friend.
I think, considering the large immigrant population in the United States, that finding a samovar should prove to be no problem. At least, if you’re in a major city. Also, if you do get one, you should get the proper tea leaves too. Five roses, or whatever, isn’t going to cut it.
Get some tea bags and have two butchy gals named Hank and Ruth to make you a pot.
Lebanese tea? I thought you wanted "Lesbian tea’. I dunno, ask Jamie Farr.