Middle East, or Mid-City?
Lebanese Iced Tea isn’t as Lebanese as the name suggests.
It was so hot. Midday in a Louisiana summer, when the air is thick and sticky, multiple showers are needed, and it feels like there’s never enough water or iced tea to guzzle.
It’s 1993, and Mona’s Cafe on Banks Street in Mid-City, New Orleans, has expanded from a Middle Eastern grocery store to a mini cafe with a curious menu of two poboys (roast beef and shrimp), and a short list of Middle Eastern foods: smooth, earthy hummus, and darkly-fried falafel of mashed chickpeas and herbs. Later, as the restaurant and its menu expanded, there were many more dishes, and a new drink menu that included hot mint tea, cola products, and an unknown: Lebanese Iced Tea—a sweet, lemony iced tea with a soft floral perfume and flavor. Pine nuts floated on the surface, swirling amid a hefty amount of ice; both a straw and a tall tea spoon provided. It’s a captivating sip with a built-in snack that became an imperative accompaniment to Mona’s food, and everyone believed it came straight from Lebanon. But try to find this beverage on Lebanese menus in any other city, any other state, or in Lebanon itself, and it doesn’t appear to exist. Ask, and no one has ever heard of Lebanese iced tea. That’s because Lebanese iced tea is a completely New Orleans invention.
In truth, the only thing Lebanese about Lebanese iced tea is who created it. Nahid “Nick” Monem and Karim Taha, brothers-in-law and business partners in Mona’s Cafe, invented the drink, inspired by Jallab, a popular summertime drink in Lebanon. Jallab is a syrup made from grape molasses, dates, and rose water that, when blended with water and poured over ice, looks a lot like iced tea but tastes completely different—complex, sweet, and a hint floral. Traditional Jallab comes garnished with a generous handful of pine nuts and golden raisins to be eaten between sips, or saved until the drink is done and slurped up with a straw.
Mona’s Lebanese Iced Tea resembles Jallab only in color, flower water, and the pine nut garnish. The base is a staple of the southern United States, not Lebanon: iced tea. Taha reveals: “We had no idea the drink would become so popular. We were trying to recreate a flavor from Lebanon that would be something people here in New Orleans would like.”
try to find this beverage on Lebanese menus in any other city, any other state, or in Lebanon itself, and it doesn’t appear to exist. Ask, and no one has ever heard of Lebanese iced tea. That’s because Lebanese iced tea is a completely New Orleans invention. In truth, the only thing Lebanese about Lebanese iced tea is who created it.
Depending on who is asked, Lebanese iced tea calls for freshly made iced black tea and some lemon or a commercial brand of pre-sweetened powdered lemon iced tea mix. At Mona’s, it’s the latter, stirred up in a giant vat and dispensed over ice, by-the-glass. A squirt of flower water (“We use orange blossom or rose water—whatever we have handy,” says Monem), and a spoonful of pine nuts to finish. The difference in flavor between rose and orange-blossom is subtle enough to be undetectable by most, though it’s worth noting that rose is the traditional flavoring in Jallab.
These days, many New Orleans area Middle Eastern restaurants recreate Mona’s original Lebanese Iced Tea, and the drink has started appearing on menus in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and other parts of Louisiana. It’s beginning to gain popularity out-of-state, too. In Dallas, Texas, Jessica Fultner, owner of Ruby’s Sno-balls (a New Orleans-style snoball stand), recently posted on Instagram: “Starting the first day of Spring with a Lebanese Iced Tea sno-ball!!!! My first Lebanese tea experience was at Mona’s Cafe in New Orleans…” Yes, the snoball comes with pine nuts.
To make a version of Mona’s Lebanese Iced Tea at home, Monem and Taha offer this recipe:
- Your favorite sweetened iced tea
- Lemon
- One teaspoon per glass of orange or rose flower water
- A small handful of raw pine nuts
The cheat: Lipton’s Lemon Iced Tea powder mix works well, though it’s been whispered that Mona’s has in the past used Nestea powder mix. “Kesak!” (cheers).