Do You Take Milk With Your Tea?

Not in Turkey it seems. It's a country known for its strong cuppas and with a national consumption of over 7.54kg of tea per person (per year) Turkey sure does love a good BRUU!

The Turks make their tea in a fantastic device called a çaydanlık. A çaydanlık is a double-decker container design with the kettle part forming a comfy base for the teapot to sit on to stay hot.  Water is boiled in the bottom part (the kettle) then poured onto loose Rize tea leaves in the teapot (on the top).  The black tea, produced on the eastern Black Sea coast, then brews (for around 10 to 15 minutes) which is kept warm by the steam below.  Wow…strong!!  That’s over double the time we infuse our black teas here at BRUU. 

Turkish tea is full-flavoured and too strong to be served in large cups, so culturally pleasing little tulip-shaped glasses (fincan çay) are preferred.  But hold them carefully by the rim, without handles you are sure to get a burned finger otherwise. 

The tea glass can then be topped-up with hot water from the tea kettle below, cutting into the strength to gain your desired zest.

Serious Turks usually go to a tea house where they serve it with a samovar (semaver in Turkish) so they can refill their glasses themselves with as much as they want. Tea in Turkey isn't just a drink.  It's a ritual deeply ingrained into the fabric of day-to-day social life.

Hi, my name is Greg.  I had to finish this blog as Anneka (BRUU Founder) just disappeared from the office saying she’s got to catch a flight to Istanbul!!! Afiyet Olsun.