Fresh juices
Lemon-Mint Juice (Citron Menthe)
عصير الليمون بالنعناع · 'asir limun bi na'na'
Marrakech runs on citrus and mint, and where the two meet you get citron menthe — a fresh lemon-mint drink blended cold at the juice bars and café terraces. Whole lemon, fresh mint, sugar and water are whizzed to a pale, frothy green and poured over ice, giving a drink that is sharper and more herbal than a plain lemonade. Tart, sweet and cooling, it is one of the city's most reviving glasses.
- Type
- Blended lemon and mint drink
- Served
- Cold, over ice
- When
- Hot afternoons, café terraces
- Key flavour
- Tart lemon, fresh mint, sweet
What Lemon-Mint Juice is
Citron menthe is a fresh lemon-mint drink, made by blending lemon, a good handful of mint, sugar and water into a pale green, frothy cooler served over ice. It is essentially a Moroccan lemonade taken up a notch with the country's signature mint, giving it a bright, herbal edge that a plain lemonade lacks.
Because Marrakech pairs mint with almost everything, this feels utterly at home here — the same spearmint that goes into the tea pot turned cold and citrusy. It is a juice-bar and café drink rather than a traditional home preparation, popular precisely because it is so simple, so cheap and so good against the heat.
How it's made & served
The quick café method blends whole or peeled lemon with fresh mint, sugar and cold water, then strains out the froth and pulp and pours it over ice. Blending the whole lemon briefly pulls a little oil from the peel for extra fragrance, though over-blending the pith turns it bitter, so it is done in short bursts.
A gentler home version simply muddles mint with lemon juice, sugar and water without a blender, for a clearer, less frothy drink. Either way it is served ice-cold, sometimes with a sprig of mint or a slice of lemon in the glass, and the sweetness is tuned to balance the sharp citrus.
In the glass, at a glance
- Fresh lemons
- A generous handful of fresh mint
- Sugar, to balance the tartness
- Cold water and plenty of ice
- A blender for the frothy café version
A flavour snapshot of what goes in.
When & where you drink it in Marrakech
You will find lemon-mint juice at the juice bars and café terraces across the city, from the stalls near Jemaa el-Fnaa to the modern cafés of Gueliz. It is a hot-afternoon and warm-evening drink, ordered to cool down and often preferred to a fizzy soft drink for being fresh and made to order.
It sits naturally beside the orange and other fresh juices, and is a highlight of any juice and smoothie tour. More of the city's fresh-drink culture is in our guides.
Cultural notes
Lemon-mint juice is a small expression of how completely mint runs through Marrakech life. The same herb that defines the national tea turns up cold in a juice glass, in salads and in cooking — a green thread tying the whole food culture together, so that even a simple lemonade tastes unmistakably Moroccan.
It also belongs to the city's thriving fresh-juice economy, where squeezing, blending and pouring to order is both a livelihood and a point of pride. Choosing a fresh citron menthe over a bottled drink is part of an everyday preference for the freshly made that runs deep in Marrakech.
Frequently asked questions
What is citron menthe?
It is a fresh lemon-mint drink — lemon, mint, sugar and water blended cold and served over ice. It is essentially a Moroccan mint lemonade, tart and herbal, popular at juice bars and cafés.
Is Moroccan lemon-mint juice the same as limonana?
It is very similar — a blended lemon-and-mint cooler found across the region. In Morocco it is usually ordered as citron menthe, and it fits naturally into a food culture that pairs mint with almost everything.
Why is the juice frothy and green?
Blending the whole lemon and fresh mint with sugar and water creates the pale green colour and foamy top. It is done in short bursts, because over-blending the lemon pith makes the drink bitter.