How new brews are reviving Turkey’s tea paradise.

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(CNN) — Perched on an eerily steep mountain in northeastern Turkey, the village of Haremtepe looks like an island surrounded by a vast green ocean: lush, bushy tea plantations stretch as far as the misty sky allows for a fleeting glimpse.

Dozens of local tea pickers, almost hidden among the deep green vegetation of the hills, quickly and efficiently pluck the shiny leaves and place them in large cloth bags slung over their shoulders before the next flood.

“This place is unique,” says Kenan Chifchi, who owns a tea farm and cafe in the upright village. “Normally, tea can only be grown in the equatorial region. But the local microclimate, with lots of sun and rain, means that tea can be grown.”

Here and all around Riz — a fertile district bordering the Black Sea with a humid climate, monsoon-like rain and spectacular scenery — most of the tea is grown in what is the world’s largest tea-drinking country. .

The British and Chinese, steeped in the history of tea, may get more attention, but Turkey (or Turkey as it now calls itself) has by some estimates the highest per capita consumption in the world – the average Turk consumes four kilos of the leaf. According to the International Tea Committee, 85 million people drink four cups a day.

“The Joy of Food”

Most of Turkey’s tea comes from the lush fields of the Rice Province.

Ruslan Kalnitsky / Adobe Stock

Made with a samovar-type item Kettle, the strong loose-leaf black tea is often drunk from small tulip-shaped glasses on very formal occasions. Similarly, the traditional technique of brewing Turkish tea — two eggs stacked on top of each other using a different “double-boiled” system — can take longer to prepare and is often accompanied by delays. The pace of Turkish life.

“Drinking tea is as much a social activity as it is a culinary pleasure,” says Recep Tayyip Erdogan University director Husein Karaman, who earlier this year founded a tea library with 938 books on drinking. “It’s the glue that binds everyone in our community together.”

From the bucolic regions of the Black Sea to the Kurdish tea gardens of eastern Turkey and the hip cafes of Istanbul, tea is used for everything from welcoming guests to catching up with friends. Starting the day to relax at the end of the meal; Or scoffing wistfully at a game of backgammon.

Sy drink is deeply tied to Turkish culture, Karaman says, dating back to the days of the Silk Road — known as the centuries-old roadside hotels. caravanserais There were often teahouses to welcome weary merchants – and evidence of tea leaves has been found in the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.

During the reign of Abdülhamid II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1876 to 1909, tea was planted throughout the empire, Karaman noted, but production was generally poor due to unfavorable climates in many areas. However, it was soon realized that the Black Sea area would be better for tea cultivation and in 1947 the country’s first tea factory was established in Rez.

“The production of tea that is widely produced here is a relatively modern phenomenon,” Karaman added. Now, tea seems to have been around for thousands of years.”

Inciting

Turkey will produce 275,000 tons of tea by 2021.

Emre Ersin

However, by some estimates, Turkey produces up to 10% of the world’s tea (275,000 tons were produced last year), most of which is consumed domestically, and most of which is the black tea variety still grown at Rize’s. Between May and October, 767 million square kilometers of tea plantations are harvested in six months, before being dried, packed, fermented and dried.

However, in 2016, Rize-based start-ups such as Lazika began to adapt to the tradition, so a change is coming for Turkish tea.

The company, which works exclusively with small farmers, produces organic green and white teas, often using flowers from the local Kakkar mountains, such as yaila, to soften the taste and which some locals say have medicinal uses.

“Turkish tea is based on people’s old habits,” says founder Emre Ersin. “There is no difference, it’s always the same taste. We want to change this.”

There is clearly an appetite to turn over a new leaf: in 2021 Lazika produced around seven tonnes of hand-picked tea, but production has increased significantly and is set to produce 25 tonnes this year.

The company recently made further plans and opened a cafe in Istanbul to sell its products. “Our consumers have new tastes. It just takes a little effort,” says Ersin. “Their eyes are being opened.”

Others are taking different paths to production. Aitul Turan, who co-directs the Rize-based women-led Tea Chef company, started making handmade tea after visiting China in 2017.

“I try to make the best tea by processing the fresh tea leaves that are harvested by hand without damaging the tea plant with great care and precision while preserving the product’s structure,” she says.

“Deep Love”

Scientist at ÇAYKUR, Turkey’s state-owned tea producing company.

Peter Young

Along with her friend Yasemin Yazıcı, the couple now hand-picks high-quality white tea leaves and processes them themselves, as well as producing handmade green tea, black tea, and even Japanese-style mitata.

“I have a deep passion for tea production,” added Turan. “We, the youth, realized that we have the responsibility to know, develop and renew the history of Turkish tea.”

But even at Turkey’s state-owned tea company Çaykur, which employs more than 10,000 people in 45 factories, innovation is on the agenda.

At Kaikur Laboratories, white-coated scientists constantly test new technologies and techniques to improve product taste and consistency, monitoring everything from pH levels to color tones. For certain blends, the “2.5 leaf” process is used to take only two small leaves of the bud and the tea bush – with some it produces a very refined taste.

“We are always trying to create new quality standards,” said Muhammed Comoglu, who works for the government-run Rice Tea Research and Application Center (ÇAYMER). “For the Turks, tea is one of the most important parts of the daily diet.”

But while Turkish tea is growing and growing in new directions, its ability to bring people together remains. A 30-meter-tall building dedicated to Turkey’s national drink in the shape of a giant Turkish teacup — including a bazaar, observation deck and future museum — has opened in the city of Rizi. year.

“Life is not life without tea,” said Hassan Onder, manager of the bazaar. “We must celebrate this important part of Turkish life, both among ourselves and by sharing the sweet story with visitors.”

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