What is a nous-nous coffee?

Nous-nous is the coffee order that makes you feel like a local the moment it leaves your lips. The name is simply Arabic for 'half-half', and that's exactly what it is: half strong coffee, half steamed or hot milk, traditionally served in a small clear glass rather than a cup so you can see the two halves meet. It sits somewhere between an espresso macchiato and a flat white — gentler and more aromatic than a straight black coffee, but far less milky than a big café latte.

Café culture in Morocco is a serious institution, especially in the cities, and ordering a nous-nous is your ticket into it. You'll see the pavement cafés of Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech lined with little tables facing the street, glasses of nous-nous cooling beside folded newspapers, while the city flows past. It's the drink of the slow morning and the late-afternoon pause, sipped over conversation or quiet people-watching for an hour at a time.

A few useful cousins to know: ask for a 'qahwa kahla' if you want it black, a 'café cassé' (or 'mhirsa') for mostly coffee with just a dash of milk, and a 'café crème' for something milkier. But nous-nous is the sweet spot most travellers settle into, and it pairs perfectly with a flaky croissant or a piece of msemen in the morning.

My one tip is to embrace the pace. A nous-nous isn't a takeaway grabbed on the run — it's an invitation to sit, to watch, to let the rhythm of the medina or the boulevard wash over you. Some of my favourite hours in Morocco have been spent doing exactly that, glass in hand, with absolutely nowhere to be.