It is traditional to the Greater Maghreb region (the northwest African countries of Morocco, Algeria,[8][9][10] Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania).

Its consumption has spread throughout North Africa, parts of the Sahel, France, Spain, the Arab world, and Middle East.

The tea is traditionally made by the head male in the family and offered to guests as a sign of hospitality.

Other hybrids and cultivars of spearmint, including yerba buena, are occasionally used as substitutes for nana mint.

[16][17] In Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria, the word for tea is tay, atay or lātāy; while in Tunisia it's et-tey.

[20] According to food historian, Helen Saberi, the drinking of green tea infused with mint spread from Morocco to Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and to nomadic tribes of Berbers and Tuareg in the Sahara.

[21] Sugar and tea would arrive from Europe to the port of Essaouira, where Jewish merchants who had started migrating to coastal cities in the 19th century managed their passing through the interior of Morocco.

[11]In one of Nass El Ghiwane's most popular songs, Es-Siniya (الصينية), the tea tray is used as a metaphor to discuss the hardships of migrating from the countryside to a big city such as Casablanca.