There are a few ways to keep cool in hot weather. In the west, we wear shorts, drink cold drinks, and blast the A/C. In Niger, they use a completely different set of tricks. The polar opposite, in fact.

For starers, they cover up. Believe it or not, wearing long layers made of lightweight cotton keeps the sun’s hot rays off your skin. The flowing movement of the fabric acts like natural air conditioning.

Wodaabe Woman in Niger. Photo by Dan Lundberg

The elephants accomplish the same thing by dusting themselves with dirt. Not quite as desirable if you have somewhere nice to go.

Elephant taking a dust bath. Photo by Roland Hunziker.

There’s one other trick to staying cool in Niger.

Drinking hot tea. While it sounds like it’d make an already hot day feel like an inferno, it is the opposite. The hot liquid makes you perspire… and the tiny beads of sweat catch the slightest breeze, cooling you off. That’s what our tour guide in Tunisia told me, anyway (they do the same thing all over North Africa).

All you do is splash hot water over green tea and…

a small bundle of sage leaves. I started with 3 leaves and eventually added 9 for more robust flavor.

Sweeten to taste….

And enjoy!

Every….

Last…

Drop.

Yum!

Yes, we rather love this new sage sipper.

Mr Picky’s thoughts?

“Just don’t burn your lips.”

There’s not much to this fragrant tea. Here’s what I combined:

Ingredients:

2 tsp green tea
2 1/2 cups  simmering water
6-9 fresh sage leaves

sugar, to taste (the more the better)

Method:

Let all ingredients steep together for 4-5 minutes. Serve in small glass teacups from your local Middle Eastern market. Enjoy this warm glass love!

North African Sage n' Green Tea

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There’s one other trick to staying cool in Niger. Drinking hot tea. While it sounds like it’d make an already hot day feel like an inferno, it is the opposite. The hot liquid makes you perspire… and the tiny beads of sweat catch the slightest breeze, cooling you off. That’s what our tour guide in Tunisia told me, anyway (they do the same thing all over North Africa).

• CourseDrinks
• LifestyleGluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
• Food TypeHot Drinks, Miss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Non-Alcoholic Drinks, Sasha's Favorite Recipes

Servings

4 people

Servings 4 people

North African Sage n' Green Tea Votes: 0 Rating: 0 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe There’s one other trick to staying cool in Niger. Drinking hot tea. While it sounds like it’d make an already hot day feel like an inferno, it is the opposite. The hot liquid makes you perspire… and the tiny beads of sweat catch the slightest breeze, cooling you off. That’s what our tour guide in Tunisia told me, anyway (they do the same thing all over North Africa). CourseDrinks LifestyleGluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian Food TypeHot Drinks, Miss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Non-Alcoholic Drinks, Sasha's Favorite Recipes Servings 4 people Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 tsp green tea
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 12 sage leaves
• sugar , to taste

Servings: people

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Instructions

1. Let all ingredients steep together for 4-5 minutes. Traditionally this would be made very sweet. Serve in small glass teacups from your local Middle Eastern market, if possible.