Hemşin Plantation, Turkey
Inside your golden Discover sachet this month you will find the Turkish Rize from Hemşin, a small town and district of Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 57 km from the city of Rize.
Turkey is the world's biggest consumer of tea where it is quite normal to be offered a glass of tea at the bank, hairdresser’s and even dentist's! Despite its popularity, tea only became the beverage of choice in Turkey in the 20th century as an alternative to coffee which was made expensive after World War I.
Tea is prepared using two stacked kettles called "çaydanlık", where water is boiled in the lower chamber, then some of the water is used to steep the leaves in the top, producing a very strong tea. The remaining water is used to dilute the tea to individual tastes. Tea is drunk from small glasses to show the teas colour, with cubes of beet sugar and is seldom taken with milk.
The region of Rize has an unusually wet climate, which produces a fantastic black tea characterised by its rich red colour. Plantations began to flourish in the fertile soils as new generations of tea drinkers decided to venture into the tea production business. Sometimes the tea is blended with apple, rose hip and linden flower for medicinal purposes.
Why we love Turkish Rize
With its intense red color and delicious aroma, Turkish Rize is such a unique and strong tea making it perfect to drink in the morning. We love how such an early adopter to tea still manages to produce over 6% of the world tea production.
Location: Hemşin
Country: Turkey
Capital City: Ankara
Coordinates: 41°03′01″N 40°54′06″E
Elevation: 1,000m above sea level
Soil type: Red clay
Manufacture: Smallhold tea estates
Season: Spring
Av temp: 23 °C
Fun facts:
> There’s an annual camel wrestling festival.
> One of the main sea turtle nesting beaches is in Turkey.
> Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts.
> A signature treat is tavuk göğsü, or chicken breast pudding.
> Oil wrestling is the national sport.
