10 Interesting Facts about the Turkish Tea, Çay
If have ever visited Turkey even just for once or for a short amount of time, you definitely noticed the Turkish people’s never-ending love for tea. From the first rays of the sun until the end of the whole day, Turks will always find an excuse to go for a hot glass of tea. Tea is an integral part of Turkish customs and is widely the most popular drink in the country.
Traditional Turkish Tea is Called “Çay”
“Çay” is pronounced just like “chai” in English. It is traditionally served in small glasses that resemble a tulip. Although Turks are also massive herbal tea drinkers such as linden flower or rosehip, black tea is their favorite.
World’s Most Passionate Tea Drinkers: Turkish People
A common Turkish citizen drinks 2 or 3 cups of tea every day on average. Turkey consumes more than three and a half kilograms of tea per person every year and they are on the top of every tea consumption indexes, usually followed by Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Health Benefits of Tea
Tea is an amazing herb that can help the body to regulate heart and blood vessel systems, reduce to chance of diabetes as well as unhealthy cholesterol levels, and also improve functions of metabolism.
Rize Produces Most of Turkey’s Tea
Rize is one of the most northern cities of Turkey with a high expectancy to rain every season of the year and its soil has the perfect warmth accompanied by many necessary minerals to grow the perfect tea. Rize produces more than 80% of total tea production in Turkey and famous for its amazing tea in the world.
Tea for Different Tastes
Although black tea is the most common form of tea in Turkey, there are countless tea flavors to choose from. You can have your tea with apple, kiwi, lemon, or orange flavors.
Shopkeeper’s Friend
If you like to shop in Turkey, it is highly possible for you that you encounter some shopkeeper that wanted to get you a cup of tea. It’s a very common tradition among shopkeepers in Turkey to have tea with the customer. It is a way to show hospitality and should not make you feel obligated to buy anything.
Turkey Used to Buy Tea from China
Turkey used to import tea from China; long before the fertile lands of Rize were known to have the perfect conditions since China is the homeland of black tea and it spread the world from there. There are two ways to refer to tea in the world, like “tea” or like the Turks called “çay”. If the tea introduced to a country from China by land it is called variations of the word “ça”, if is through sea, it is called variations of the word “te”.
Refusing a Tea Offer
Everyone you meet in Turkey will ask you to have tea with them at some point. It is completely normal to refuse it, but probably better for the relationship to grow.
Tea in Public Places
There are countless places scattered around Turkey only dedicated to serve tea. Families, friends, and colleagues gather in these cafés to chit chat and enjoy their free time.
Tea and Hookahs
A hookah is a flavored tobacco product that one can smoke through a water pipe and they are getting widely popular in Turkey. Tea is the irreplaceable companion of hookahs in various hookah style cafés.
