Attaya: A Senegalese Tea Tradition

Throughout my time in Senegal, across many regions and languages, the most unifying cultural force I have observed is attaya, Senegalese tea. My CBT family (local host family in Mbour) makes attaya once a day. My host dad in Kedougou makes it twice a day. Other families I have spent time with fall somewhere in between. Each puts their individual spin on it, but the process is generally pretty consistent. I will describe below how attaya is often made in my village, but small variations do occur among families.

Attaya is made with a 100 CFA packet of green tea imported from China. These packets are sold in every boutique in Senegal. Even my village, which does not have a boutique, has multiple people who sell tea out of their homes. Conveniently, the same places that sell tea also sell 100 CFA bags of sugar; one bag is the amount of sugar needed to make attaya.

Attaya is made in three rounds, so each person gets three small glasses of tea. In each round, more sugar is added to the teapot, but no more tea is added. Thus, the first round is the strongest and the least sweet; the third round is basically just sugar-water. I usually don't drink the last round. Even the second round is too sweet for me sometimes, depending on who makes it.

Teapot and cups have been brought out. Hot coals have been put in the stove

At the beginning of the process, tea and water are placed in the teapot, which is set on the charcoal to boil. Once the teapot is on the coals, it is left to boil for at least 20 minutes, or however long the person making the attaya feels like leaving it there. There is no upper limit to how long you can let the attaya boil. When my host dad makes attaya, he lies on the bed under the shade structure in our yard and dozes off. He is awoken by the sizzling sound of tea boiling over and dripping onto the hot coals. This sound is his cue that it's time to start thinking about the next step in the process. He sits up, takes the top off the pot so that no more tea is lost due to boiling over, then lets it boil a few more minutes for good measure. Next comes the sugar and the pouring. 

Tea and water are in the pot for round one. Notice the sugar on the bed. This bag of sugar is larger than the 100 CFA size mentioned above. Don't worry--not all of this sugar went into the tea

My toxoma (namesake) Mamadou waiting for the attaya to boil

The teapot is taken off the heat and sugar is added to the teapot. Mint, if used, is also added to the teapot at this time. My CBT family would also add a small packet of vanilla sugar, which made especially delicious attaya. I have heard rumors of other volunteers' families adding lemongrass or basil to the attaya. 

The tea is then poured back and forth between the teapot and the glasses. Then the tea is poured back and forth from one glass to another. Sometimes the tea is again poured back and forth from the teapot to the glasses. The specifications of the pouring vary from family to family. The pouring process accomplishes three goals:

1. Mixing the sugar into the tea

2. Cooling the tea down a little

3. Making foam in the glass. This is the defining characteristic of attaya--foam in the glass. Pouring techniques vary, but all make foam. I have asked a number of Senegalese people as to why foam is important. One told me "it is Senegalese culture," another said "it makes the tea taste better." My interpretation of their answers is "you make foam because attaya has foam."

Measuring the sugar. Round one: one glass of sugar. Round two: a little less than a glass of sugar. Round three: a little more than half a glass of sugar. These measurements are approximate and vary based on who is making the attaya

Pouring tea into the glass. This begins the endless cycle of pouring that characterizes the making of attaya.  

As mentioned above, the endless cycle of pouring the tea back and forth into the teapot

Pouring the tea between two cups back and forth. Usually this is done with two of the small "shot glass" cups, but my toxoma only had one glass, so he used these larger plastic cups instead

Once you have boiled the tea, added sugar, and made foam in the glass, it is just about time to drink the first round of your attaya! The outside of the glasses, inevitably sticky from spilled tea during the pouring process, are rinsed (without losing any of the precious foam inside). Next, each person is given half a glass of tea (approximately 1 oz.) in order of seniority. Guests get priority over everyone in the drinking order, and men get priority over women. You are not supposed to drink the foam, only the tea. That way, the foam will still be there for the next person who drinks out of the glass. After taking fifteen seconds to drink the first round of attaya, it is time to sit back in your wooden chair or lie down on your wooden bed aand wait another indefinite amount of time for round two.

Cleaning off the outside of the glass with water before drinking the tea. The outside of the glass gets sticky because of the sugary tea that is poured into and out of it many times

The process of making attaya is one that contradicts the interests of the average US citizen for three main reasons:

1. It is a slow process; making attaya requires at minimum one hour, but usually takes around two hours. During April, just before Ramadan, my toxoma (pictured below) took a record-setting amount of time to make attaya: 4 hours and 4 minutes.

2. Each person only gets about 3 oz. of tea total. This is not a lot of tea considering how long the process is.

3. The amount of work required to prepare the attaya, especially during the pouring stages, is fairly large. You don't go do anything else (such as work or play soccer) while making attaya, you just sit in the same spot and either chat or lie down while you wait for it to be ready.

When I first arrived in Senegal, I thought that the pouring of the tea to create foam was fascinating to watch. I found the majority of the process (time spent waiting for the tea to boil) boring and wanted it to end quickly. A couple months later I became a little annoyed with the inefficiency of the process and the amount of time it takes to make three tiny glasses of tea. Then, a couple months ago my thinking changed again. All traces of frustration at the process subsided. Yes, the point of making tea is to drink tea, but the process of attaya is deeper than that. It is an invitation to sit, to spend time with one another or spend time alone. Time without an agenda. The only requirement is that you be present for the tea when it calls.