Moroccan Drinks & Juices

Tea and coffee

The foundation is, of course, mint tea (atay) — sweet, green and poured from a height, the drink of hospitality and the close of every meal. Its ritual is deep enough to warrant its own mint tea guide. But Morocco is also a serious coffee culture, a legacy in part of French influence.

• Nous-nous: 'half-half' — coffee and hot milk in roughly equal parts, in a small glass. The everyday café order.
• Café cassé / qahwa m'hlouwa: an espresso 'broken' with a splash of milk.
• Café noir: strong black coffee, sometimes spiced.
• Spiced coffee (qahwa bahara): in some places coffee is scented with a blend of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, sesame and pepper.
• Herbal infusions: in winter or when mint is scarce, tea is made with sage, wormwood (chiba), verbena or orange-blossom.

The juice stands

Marrakech's most iconic cold drink is the freshly squeezed orange juice sold from the ranks of stalls on Jemaa el-Fna and around the Medina — cheap, bright and pressed to order from Morocco's excellent oranges. It is a genuine local institution, not just a tourist prop. Alongside orange, stalls press seasonal fruit into juice: pomegranate in autumn, and mixes of apple, banana, pineapple and more.

For safety on the juice stands (fresh-squeezed vs pre-poured, ice, and busy stalls), see our street-food safety guide.

Shakes, smoothies and milky drinks

Where Morocco really surprises visitors is its rich, almost dessert-like blended drinks, served in juice bars and cafés.

• Avocado shake (jus d'avocat): ripe avocado blended with milk, sugar and sometimes almonds or dates into a thick, creamy shake — filling enough to be a snack.
• Almond milk (jus de lawz / sharbat): a fragrant, sweet blanched-almond drink, often scented with orange-blossom water.
• Panaché: a layered multi-fruit juice — typically orange, apple, avocado and banana — served in a tall glass, sometimes topped with nuts and dried fruit.
• Raib and l'ben: traditional fermented/soured milk drinks, tangy and cooling, still popular in the countryside and at home.

Traditional and seasonal drinks

Older and rural drinks still appear, especially around celebrations and Ramadan. Sharbat (sweet, sometimes rose- or almond-scented cordials) refreshes at gatherings. Warm, spiced milk with honey soothes at suhoor. In the countryside, buttermilk-style l'ben accompanies couscous and rich meals, its acidity cutting the fat. These sit alongside the ever-present tea as the traditional, non-alcoholic backbone of Moroccan hospitality.

When each drink appears

Moroccan drinks follow the clock and the calendar. Mornings belong to coffee — a nous-nous or café cassé — and to freshly squeezed orange juice, often taken with the breakfast breads. The rich blended shakes, avocado and almond above all, are more an afternoon or anytime treat, filling enough to bridge the long gap to a late dinner. Mint tea, of course, refuses to be confined: it appears at breakfast, mid-morning, after lunch, through the afternoon with pastries, and to close the evening meal.

Occasions bring their own glasses. Sharbat and almond-milk drinks pour at weddings and celebrations; warm, honeyed spiced milk soothes at Ramadan's pre-dawn suhoor; and in the countryside, tangy l'ben accompanies a rich couscous or tagine to cut the fat. Learning this rhythm is part of learning to eat like a local.

A note on alcohol

Morocco is a Muslim-majority country, and alcohol is not part of the everyday table for most people. It is legal and available in licensed restaurants, bars, hotels, riads and some supermarkets, and Morocco even produces its own wines and beers, but you will not find it in traditional cafés, most local eateries or street stalls, and public drinking is frowned upon. During Ramadan, availability narrows further. For the wider etiquette around what is and isn't served, see food customs. To taste the full spread of Moroccan drinks the easy way, a food tour will usually work in tea, juice and a shake or two.