In Turkey, tea is a way of life, but it’s a tradition whose origins are fairly recent in the nearly 5,000-year history of tea itself. Known as çay (pronounced chai) the uniquely local beverage is enjoyed in homes, businesses, and even in Turkish bazaars where it’s used to entice customers and secure deals.
“Çaysiz sohbet, aysiz gok yuzu gibidir.”
Conversations without tea are like a night sky without the moon. — Turkish Folk Saying
The History of Turkish Tea
Tea is believed to have originally ended up in Turkey in the 1500s, thanks to the heavily traveled Silk Road trade route, but the caffeinated beverage didn’t pick up in popularity until the late 1800s and didn’t truly take hold of the country until the mid-20th century.
In 1878, Mehmet Izzet, the governor of the Turkish town of Adana, wrote the “Tea Pamphlet” (“Çay Rişalesi”) highlighting the countless health benefits of tea consumption, and tea houses began popping up across the country and throughout Istanbul. Unfortunately, tea consumption was still far less popular than coffee, which had been the beverage of choice in the country for centuries.
In 1917, the first attempts were made to plant and grow tea in Turkey, but because of the Turkish War of Independence, the efforts failed. In 1924, the independent government passed a law calling for tea, oranges, and filberts to be grown in the Black Sea region of Rize, but serious tea cultivation didn’t start until 1937 when 20 tons of tea seeds were imported from Batum in the Georgian Republic. The seeds were planted along the sloping hills of Rize, and 30 kilos of tea were produced. The region features high temperatures and a nice distribution of yearly rainfall, making the humid climate ideal for growing tea. Likewise, according to Linda Gaylard in The Tea Book, the region’s cool nights allow for tea to grow without the use of pesticides.
After World War I, coffee exports became expensive and tea became much cheaper than coffee, with four glasses of tea costing the equivalent of one cup of Turkish coffee. At last, in 1947, the first tea factory was founded and, by the 1960s, the tea efforts were so successful that Turkey began exporting its tea and towns took on tea-inspired names: Mapavri became Çayeli and Kadahor became Çaykara.
Once an economically poor region, today Rize’s tea production has risen to the levels of Sri Lanka and boosted the local economy immensely. Producing 4.6 percent of the world’s tea, an amazing 95 percent of the country’s tea stays in the country. This is thanks to a 145 percent tariff on any tea imported to Turkey, leaving the locals with a need for Rize’s black tea.
Turkey is also known for being one of the few countries outside of Italy to grow Bergamot Citrus, an essential ingredient in the ever-popular Earl Grey tea.
Turkish Tea Preparation
Turkish teaware is unique, and the vessel for preparation is a sight in and of itself. Almost a more simplistic form of the samovar, the Turkish çaydanlık is two teapots that are stacked one on top of the other. The lower teapot boils the water and the upper teapot is used to keep the infused tea concentrate warm.
Several scoops of loose leaf tea are placed into the upper teapot, while the lower teapot is filled with water and brought to a boil. Once the water is boiling, a small amount of the water is placed into the upper pot and the tea leaves are allowed to infuse for 10–15 minutes or more, creating a strong tea concentrate.
To serve, the host or hostess will ask each guest which type of tea they prefer, and serving the wrong style is considered a huge faux pas. The styles of Turkish tea are
- koyu: meaning “dark,” this is a strong style of tea
- kanı: meaning “rabbit’s blood,” this is a deep brownish red style of tea
- açık: meaning “light,” this is a weak style of tea
Depending upon the style the individual prefers, the tea concentrate is poured from the upper teapot into a tulip-shaped glass that sits in a saucer. The concentrate is then diluted with boiling water from the lower teapot to create koyu, kanı, or açık tea. The uniqueness of this tea glass is both its shape and the fact that it’s glass: the latter allows the beautiful shades of the tea liquor to be enjoyed, while the tulip shape allows one to hold the glass by the outward-leaning lip of the cup to avoid burning the hands while drinking. Every year, a whopping 400 million of these glasses (that’s ~6 per person) are sold in Turkey.
Whichever way you prefer your Turkish tea, tradition dictates that the tea is enjoyed black, without milk, but with plenty of beet sugar cubes known as kesme. In Eastern Turkey, tea is enjoyed kitlama style, meaning a lump of sugar is placed between the tongue and cheek during drinking.
Like the English, Turkey’s tea drinkers also have a favorite tea time. Falling between 3 and 5 p.m., Turkish tea time (çay saati) features plenty cakes, cookies, baklava, and, of course, tuzlular, or “salties,” which are salty cookies and biscuits. If you travel to Turkey, be prepared for plenty of tea, because the average local drinks up to 10 cups a day.
Also popular in the country are Turkish tea gardens, which began popping up in the 1950s and aren’t always a “garden” in the traditional sense. In fact, unlike the serenity and reflection of Japanese tea gardens, Turkish tea gardens are loud and lively with music, conversation, and, sometimes, even hookah.
Feeling adventurous? Grab your passport and experience the other tea cultures we’ve explored:
Originally published at teforia.com.
