Tea & infusions
Chamomile Tea (Babunj)
بابونج · babunj
Babunj, chamomile, is one of the most universally recognised herbal infusions on a Marrakech herbalist's shelf, its small dried yellow-and-white flower heads steeped into a pale, honeyed, faintly apple-scented tea. Calming and gentle on the stomach, it is drunk at the end of the day or after a heavy meal, a soft counterpoint to the more assertive bitterness of chiba or thyme.
- Type
- Chamomile flower infusion
- Served
- Hot, in a glass
- When
- Bedtime, after meals, calming
- Key flavour
- Floral, honeyed, mild
What Chamomile Tea is
Babunj is dried chamomile flower heads, steeped in hot water to make a pale gold, gently floral tea with a faint apple-like sweetness. It is one of the calmest, most universally liked herbal infusions in Morocco, largely free of the sharp bitterness that defines many of the country's other herbalist teas.
It is drunk for its calming reputation — to help with sleep, to ease a nervous stomach, or simply to wind down an evening — and it sits comfortably as a tea most people, including children, are given without much thought, unlike the stronger remedy infusions reserved for specific ailments.
How it's made & served
Dried chamomile flowers are steeped in freshly boiled water for several minutes until the liquid turns a soft gold, then strained and sweetened lightly with honey or sugar if desired. It requires no particular technique or ratio, and most households simply steep it to taste.
It is sometimes blended with a little mint or verbena for extra fragrance, but is just as often drunk entirely plain, valued precisely for its mildness. It is served hot, in the same small glasses used for any Moroccan infusion.
In the glass, at a glance
- Dried chamomile (babunj) flowers
- Freshly boiled water
- Honey or sugar, optional
- Sometimes a little mint or verbena added
- Sold loose by weight at herbalist stalls
A flavour snapshot of what goes in.
When & where you drink it in Marrakech
Chamomile is sold dried and loose at every herbalist stall in the spice square and general spice markets, and it is brewed at home rather than served in cafés, most often in the evening or after a rich meal.
A spice souk tour will show you chamomile among the dozens of dried herbs on offer, and it pairs naturally with the wider herbalist infusion tradition covered on a visit to the Rahba Kedima stalls.
Cultural notes
Chamomile's gentleness makes it something of an exception in the Moroccan herbalist repertoire, which otherwise leans toward assertive, purposeful bitterness. Its universal ease — safe, mild, liked by nearly everyone — is exactly why it is so often the default suggestion when someone simply wants a calming cup rather than a targeted remedy.
It also shows how Morocco's herbalist stalls stock both the internationally familiar and the highly local side by side: chamomile sits beside khoudenjal and chiba, equally at home in the same dried-herb landscape. Read more in our guides.
Frequently asked questions
What is babunj tea?
Babunj is chamomile, and babunj tea is a pale, mildly floral infusion made from the dried flower heads, drunk in Morocco for its calming, stomach-settling reputation.
Is chamomile tea a Moroccan drink?
Chamomile is drunk worldwide, but it is a well-established part of the Moroccan herbalist tradition, sold at every spice souk stall and brewed at home for calm and digestion.
When is chamomile tea drunk in Morocco?
Most often in the evening or after a heavy meal, valued for its gentleness compared to the country's sharper, more medicinal herbal infusions.