It's All About Tea — black tea

In our previous posts, we explored how tea penetrated countries from Morocco through Russia to Iran. We witnessed the birth and evolution of those countries' unique tea cultures and how they intertwined and influenced each other. Today, we round up our round-the-world journey in Turkey to explore the local tea heritage and traditions around tea.

Let's start with a unanimous fact – Turkey crowns the Top 10 list of tea-drinking countries in the world (based on per capita consumption)! It's hard to imagine tea entered this country a mere century ago. Yet, tea culture in Turkey has a long and rich history. Since its introduction, tea has become an important part of Turkish daily life. Today, it is an integral part of the social culture. Serving and drinking tea together is also a way of showing hospitality. It is common for Turkish people to offer tea to guests as a sign of goodwill and being welcome. (Read more)

Tea has earned a highly respected status among other TCM remedies as “a cure for 10 000 illnesses”. 

While preferences towards one or another tea are strictly based on personal taste, each of the six main tea types has unique properties that can be experienced at their best in a particular set of circumstances.

As most of us living in the Northern hemisphere are amid wintertime, let’s dive deeper into the Chinese teas that hold the most benefits for the human body during wintertime. (Read more)

Dian Hong Tea means "Yunnan Red Tea." While "dian" is an aboriginal word for Yunnan, "hong" is the hong in hong cha, which means red in Chinese. In the west, we call it "Black Tea". Today, most Dian Hong Black Tea varieties grow at high-mountain elevations of 1500m and up above sea level. Growing in ecologically pure areas, the finished tea has an exceptional aroma and taste. Rich, mellow, and sweet, with mouth-watering notes of fruits, honey, and sweet potatoes. (Read more)

Centuries ago Chinese black tea steadily paved its way to popularity in the west. This wasn't the case in China, where people preferred freshly processed green teas. Black tea was no more than an export, something locals dare not drink themselves. It wasn't until quite recently that Chinese farmers began rediscovering the beauty of a well-executed black tea. Dian Hong Black Tea is one of those teas that is highly honored today. Originating in Yunnan province, it is made from wild ancient tea trees. The final taste is full of Qi and sure to get any tea connoisseur tea drunk in no time. (Read more)

Jin Hou Black Tea, otherwise known as Golden Monkey Black Tea, is a relatively old Chinese tea. In an era when only green teas were consumed, alongside the only black tea being Lapsang Souchong, Jin Hou came about to meet export desires. Black tea was already growing immense popularity in the west. While locals back in China didn't necessarily have a taste for the tea themselves, they experimented with farming techniques to produce some delicious black teas. (Read more)