Tea! Tea is welcoming, tea is friendliness, tea is Turkey. You do not have to ask for one, you are immediately provided with it. At every home, a household is the tea professor who is in charge of mixing different tea brands in different ratios, creates a formula for making the best blend known.
Turkish tea grows at Black Sea region, mainly at Rize, picked by the local tea farmers and sold to the factories, both government and private.
Turkish tea needs to be brewed precisely, like other tea varieties. Brewing consists of two tier kettle –çaydanlık- and on top a porcelain teapot –demlik– which makes the difference. Boiling the water in the kettle, while the porcelain teapot sits empty on the top, heating up from the stream. Then you add the right ratio of dry tea leaves to the teapot, take the kettle off the heat, count to five in order for it to stop boiling, then pour adequate amount of hot water to the teapot. Dim the burner, place them on top each other again and wait for the tea to steep for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the variety of tea. A pot of steeped tea should be consumed with in 30 minutes or it gets bitter.
Açık –tea topped with more water than tea- tavşan kanı or demli -well steeped tea- has more tea than water, served in çay bardağı, small tea glasses, with lumps of sugar on its plate, is enjoyed with or without sugar.
Turkish tea, is widely consumed every hour of the day, especially during breakfast and after any meal. In every house, if there is one thing for sure, there is a teapot sitting on the stove, waiting to brew your favorite drink of all time…
Herkese benden çay!