Turkey out-slurps the British!
Move over Aunt Sally – no matter how many cups of tea you serve with that slice of cake… Turkey still has the highest per-capita tea consumption in the world. UK is relegated to second place!
Although, people automatically associate Turkey with Turkish Coffee, tea-drinking has a long-standing tradition in the country. As well as consuming a large amount of tea, Turkey also grows and produces it (mainly in the Rize province, on the edge of the Black Sea near Georgia)
Black Tea Stats
According to market research:
- 90% of the Turkish population drinks tea at least once a day
- 33% of the population mix different teas in order to create their own blend
- Loose tea is the most common type of black tea, representing 99% of black tea sales
- However, loose tea is beginning to lose market-share to tea bags
Drinking your black tea 
- Traditionally, Turkish tea is prepared using a 2-stacked kettle (çaydanlık)
- Some of the water boiled in the lower kettle is used to fill the smaller top kettle, where the loose tea is steeped, to create a strong black tea
- Tea is served in small tulip shaped glasses, and the remaining hot water can be used to dilute your tea, depending on whether you prefer it:
- Strong “koyu” (literally means “dark”), or
- Weak “açık” (literally means “light”)
And if you’re not keen on black tea, there’s a couple of alternatives:
Green Tea
- First introduced in 1999, commercially packaged green tea is available, but still a bit of a novelty
Herbal Tea’s
- In Turkey, herbal teas are popular, especially amongst tourists.
- The three most popular herbal teas are:
- Apple (“elma çayı”)
- Rose Hip (“kuşburnu çayı”), and
- Linden flower (“ıhlamur çayı”)
- Sage tea (“ada çayı”, also called island tea) is popular in the Mediterranean coastal region, and is Red’s tea of choice.
Last time I was in Yalikavak, I bought a bag of Apple Tea powder from the market. It’s more like drinking hot apple juice than herbal tea. The apples are dried and ground to a power, and then mixed with hot water.
Although tea is refreshing on a hot day… I’m a big Turkish Coffee fan.
Video about Tea in Turkey
© Market Research World; Wikipedia
© Aunt Sally Photo
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Isn’t it weird when most associate the Brits with tea drinkers but the Turks make and drink more than we ever could in a day? Like you say, most foreigners think of Turkish coffee first and it is not till they come across the tea houses that they start to realise it. (or get offered tea by every shop owner!)
Natalie recently posted..Butterfly Valley
Yes, I had no idea that so much tea was drunk in Turkey. I love that you get offered tea when you’re conducting business, especially when it’s delivered on those traditional silver trays.
Roving Jay recently posted..Turkish Coffee as Sweet as Love
I could use one of those teas right now!!! I am craving to be in a Turkish tea garden at Ortakoy and have the tea by watching the Bosphorus all day. Until then I am hanging there thanks to tulumba.com by getting my Turkish tea from them and brewing my own. :))
Best!