Fresh juices
Jallab
جلاب · jallab
Jallab is a sweet, aromatic syrup drink — carob and dates mingled with grape molasses and rosewater, given a subtle smokiness, then diluted and poured over crushed ice. Topped with floating pine nuts and raisins, it is as much a small dessert as a drink. Of Levantine origin, it has travelled into Morocco's Ramadan repertoire, where its cooling sweetness makes it a favourite for breaking the fast.
- Type
- Sweet syrup drink over crushed ice
- Served
- Cold, over crushed ice
- When
- Ramadan, iftar, celebrations
- Key flavour
- Carob-date sweet, rosewater, smoky
What Jallab is
Jallab is a syrup-based drink built on carob and dates, usually blended with grape molasses and perfumed with rosewater, carrying a characteristic faint smokiness. Diluted with cold water and poured over crushed ice, it makes a dark, sweet, aromatic cooler that is topped with pine nuts and raisins floating on the surface — part drink, part spoonable treat.
It comes from the Levant, where it is a classic of the region's sweet-drink culture, and has become part of Morocco's Ramadan drink repertoire, sold ready-made as a syrup and mixed to order. Rich and dessert-like, it is drunk in modest glasses rather than gulped, its sweetness meant to restore a fasting body.
How it's made & served
The heart of jallab is its syrup — traditionally carob and date molasses with grape molasses and rosewater, sometimes given its signature smokiness by exposing the mix to smoke during production. To serve, the syrup is diluted with cold water to taste and poured over a tall glass of crushed ice.
The finishing touch is the garnish: a scattering of pine nuts and raisins across the top, which soak up a little of the drink and are eaten as you go. A splash more rosewater is sometimes added for extra fragrance. Because the syrup does the work, mixing a glass at home is simply a matter of dilution, ice and topping.
In the glass, at a glance
- Jallab syrup (carob, dates and grape molasses)
- Rosewater, for perfume
- Cold water, to dilute the syrup
- Crushed ice
- Pine nuts and raisins, to float on top
A flavour snapshot of what goes in.
When & where you drink it in Marrakech
Jallab is above all a Ramadan drink in Morocco, appearing on iftar tables and at the drink-sellers who do their briskest trade during the fasting month. The ready-made syrup is sold in shops and the souk, making it easy to mix at home for breaking the fast.
Outside Ramadan it turns up at celebrations and among the sweeter coolers of a juice and smoothie tour. It sits alongside the other seasonal fast-breaking drinks explored in our guides.
Cultural notes
Jallab is a good example of how Morocco's Ramadan table borrows and absorbs from the wider Arab world. A Levantine classic by origin, it has found a firm place in the Moroccan fasting month, where the appetite for sweet, restoring, elaborate drinks at sunset makes room for it alongside home-grown coolers like tamarind and almond milk.
Its garnish of pine nuts and raisins also speaks to the way Ramadan drinks blur into desserts. Breaking a fast is an occasion for generosity and richness, and a drink you both sip and spoon, crowned with costly nuts and dried fruit, fits that spirit of abundance perfectly.
Frequently asked questions
What is jallab made of?
A syrup of carob and dates, usually with grape molasses and rosewater and a subtle smokiness, diluted with water and poured over crushed ice. It is topped with pine nuts and raisins.
Is jallab Moroccan?
It originates in the Levant but has been adopted into Morocco's Ramadan drink culture, where it is sold as a ready-made syrup and mixed for breaking the fast.
What does jallab taste like?
Sweet and aromatic — carob and date molasses rounded with fragrant rosewater and a faint smokiness. Rich and dessert-like, it is sipped in small glasses rather than gulped.