Tea & infusions
Ginger Infusion (Skinjbir)
شاي الزنجبيل · shay skinjbir
Ginger tea is one of the simplest and most reached-for home remedies in Morocco: fresh ginger root simmered in water until the liquid turns sharp and warming, then sweetened with honey and often brightened with lemon. It is a household drink rather than a café order, brewed the moment someone feels a chill, a sore throat or a queasy stomach coming on.
- Type
- Fresh ginger infusion
- Served
- Hot
- When
- Colds, cold weather, upset stomach
- Key flavour
- Sharp, warming, gingery
What Ginger Infusion is
Skinjbir tea is fresh ginger root simmered in water until the liquid takes on the root's full peppery heat, then softened with honey and often a squeeze of lemon. The result is sharp and warming rather than sweet, a tea that announces itself immediately on the tongue and leaves a lingering heat in the chest.
It sits alongside black pepper tea as one of Morocco's most common cold-weather remedies, brewed at the first sign of a scratchy throat or simply to warm up on a cold evening. It is a plain, unfussy drink, valued for effect more than elegance.
How it's made & served
Fresh ginger is peeled and sliced or crushed, then simmered in water for several minutes to draw out its heat — longer simmering gives a stronger, sharper tea. It is strained into a glass and sweetened generously with honey, with a squeeze of lemon often added for brightness and vitamin C.
Some households add a stick of cinnamon or a few cracked black peppercorns to deepen the warmth further, blurring it into the wider family of spiced wellness teas. It is drunk hot, usually in one sitting, rather than nursed over a long conversation.
In the glass, at a glance
- Fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
- Water, simmered rather than just steeped
- Honey to sweeten
- Lemon juice, for brightness
- Optional cinnamon or black pepper
A flavour snapshot of what goes in.
When & where you drink it in Marrakech
Ginger tea is almost entirely a home remedy, made in the kitchen rather than ordered in a café, though the fresh root is sold everywhere in the vegetable markets and souks of Marrakech. It appears the moment someone in the household feels unwell or the weather turns cold.
If you mention feeling under the weather to a host or a riad keeper, a glass of hot ginger tea is a likely, kindly response. It belongs alongside saffron and pepper tea in the country's herbalist and home-remedy repertoire, explored on a spice souk tour.
Cultural notes
Ginger tea is a clear example of Morocco's blurred line between drink and medicine: it is made specifically to have an effect — warming the body, easing a cough, settling a stomach — rather than simply for pleasure, and it is offered with that intention understood by everyone at the table.
It also reflects how deeply spices double as remedies in Moroccan households, the same ginger that flavours a tagine reappearing in a glass the moment someone feels a chill. Read more about the country's warming spice teas in our guides.
Frequently asked questions
Is ginger tea common in Morocco?
Yes, as a household remedy rather than a café menu drink. Fresh ginger simmered with honey and lemon is a common first response to a cold, a sore throat or a chilly evening.
How is Moroccan ginger tea made?
Fresh ginger root is peeled, sliced and simmered in water until sharp and warming, then strained and sweetened with honey, often with a squeeze of lemon.
Can ginger tea be combined with other spices?
Yes — cinnamon or black pepper are sometimes added for extra warmth, moving it closer to Morocco's wider family of spiced wellness infusions.