turkish tea

Turkish tea, The favorite drink of the Turks came to Turkey 140 years ago

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The Ottomans were the first to know tea in Turkey, the most important drink in Turkish daily life, about 140 years ago. During the reign of Abdülhamid II, Turkish tea was planted on all sides of the empire from Bursa to Aleppo, and from Aydin to Erzurum.

Recently there has been a noticeable increase in the number of eating and drinking festivals in Turkey, and to talk about the main drinks in them, it is necessary to mention tea, the most important part of Turkish daily life. After it was widely known that tea was a mainstay in Turkish culture for centuries, Kemaleddin Kozucu shed light on this issue and changed what was known about the history of tea in Turkey.

First grown was in Artvin

In the Ottoman era, tea leaves have been found since the 16th century. However, tea was initially used by very few people, and most of its uses were in perfumes. After the regulations were announced in 1839, tea gradually began to appear on the breakfast tables. Tea cultivation began during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II when updates began at all levels.

Efforts were made to convert farming to the European style. With the aim of increasing the yield of traditional agricultural products while other crops were being tried. Tea was one of those products. The seeds of seedlings and shrubs imported from the Far East were sown in the fields of Istanbul, Bursa and  Thessaloniki.

Tea was first cultivated in Turkey by farmers in the northeastern city of Artvin in the late 1870s. According to Kozugo’s research, tea plantations were successful in Hopa and Aravi in ​​1878. Tea became more available after the Turks went to Russia to work, and planted the seedlings they brought with them. Once growing tea became a profitable business, the state imposed a tax on it. While farmers complained about the new tax, the governor of Trabzon, Yusuf Ziya Pasha, joined their call and said that tea production should be encouraged. The taxes were eventually abolished at the governor’s call.

As these developments took place in the eastern Black Sea region, the Ottoman government imported seeds of seedlings and shrubs from the Far East and attempted to develop tea plantations.

turkish tea

At the end of the 1880s, tea seedlings from Japan were planted in Bursa, under the watchful eye of its ruler, Ismail Pasha. Due to Bursa’s climate, which was not suitable for tea, attempts failed.

In 1894, the Ottomans attempted to grow tea in Istanbul, and this attempt was also unsuccessful. The Ottoman government studied the land and climate in the provinces where tea grows, and an official report was prepared in this regard, following which a second attempt was made to plant tea in the same year by order of Abdülhamid II.

Tea seedlings and seeds were ordered from Japan, teas grown in Turkey were examined, the government issued instructions for the cultivation and care of tea, and attempts were made to grow it throughout the empire.

Tea plantations originated in Erzurum, Sivas, Ankara, Aydin, Adana, Aleppo and Istanbul. But again, these attempts failed due to the unfavorable climate in these cities. Interestingly, although tea was grown in the eastern Black Sea region, no attempts were made to increase production there.

Abdul Hamid II attached importance to tea production and closely followed all developments on this subject. In 1896, Yusuf Al-Bukhari collected the tea leaves grown in Trabzon and processed them while they were still in the form of buds, obtained from the white tea and presented it to the Sultan. Abdülhamid II was very pleased with the gift and decided to study the tea plantations in and around Trabzon. He also invited a Dutch expert named Hobbs, who had written a number of books on tea and coffee plantations, to the palace and rewarded him.

Rize tea

It was Hulusi Karadeniz, who took over the chair of the Chamber of Agriculture in Rize in 1910, who brought tea to it. He brought tea seeds in 1912 because the areas of Batum and Rize, which were under Russian occupation, were similar. The seeds were sown in his garden in a short time, but the outbreak of World War I, of which the Ottoman Empire was a part, caused that attempt to fail.

When Rize was occupied by the Russians, Hulusi Beg emigrated and returned to it after its liberation to plant tea in 1919. Hulusi Beg, who became known by his family name “Karadinez” after the founding of the Republic, told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his tea experiences. Ali Reza Beg was a teacher at Halkali Agricultural Academy, and he prepared a report on tea after Hulusi provided him with some necessary information.

Also read: The Full Story of the Sumela Monastery with its Unique Historical Building

How To Prepare several Types of Turkish Tea

Turkey has a special way to prepare Turkish tea, where it uses its own teapot during preparation, which gives the tea a special and distinctive taste, and can also be prepared with the regular teapot, and the Turkish teapot consists of two teapots, one small and one large, and the small teapot is An ordinary teapot is placed on a special base above the large teapot so that it is as if it was being steamed. This makes the tea more concentrated.

Traditional Turkish tea ingredients

  • Turkish teapot
  • 3 teaspoons red tea
  • 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
  • ½ liter lukewarm water

The method

  • In the lower part of the jug, put the water and let it boil over low heat.
  • At the top of the fridge put the tea.
  • Put boiling water in the upper part of the jug on the fire for 10 minutes. Add a little water to the jug below. Then pour it into glasses.

The Turkish fermented tea ingredients

  • Turkish fermented tea ingredients
  • Turkish teapot
  • 2 teaspoons of tea
  • ½ liter lukewarm water
  • ½ teaspoon sugar, or to taste

How to make Turkish fermented tea

  • In a large teapot, put the water in it on the fire until it boils.
  • In a small teapot, put the tea, wash it, and then strain it. Then put it on the large jug so that no steam comes out of it, and put them on medium heat.
  • Pour about half of the boiling water over the washed teapot, and add the water in the lower teapot.
  • Leave it on the fire for 10 minutes, then serve it with desserts or on its own.
turkish tea

The Turkish tea with pomegranate ingredients

  • Turkish tea with pomegranate
  • 2 cups pomegranate seeds
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5 cups of ready-made Turkish tea

How to make Turkish tea with pomegranate

  • In a bowl, put the pomegranate seeds, then mash them completely.
  • Add sugar to the pomegranate and stir until dissolved.
  • Pour the mixture into a jar kept in the refrigerator and closed tightly.
  • When preparing the tea, add two tablespoons of the pomegranate mixture to each cup of tea and stir well before serving.

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