Does anyone know much about this kind of tea? I don't think I've seen
it discussed here, but I've heard it described as being a good kind of
tea. I have heard that it is grown in Turkey, and I heard a few
positive things about the taste, but I don't this kind of tea is rarely
mentioned anywhere with the exception of maybe two books that didn't
say much on it. If you've had it, where do you find this tea, and how
was it?

There have been threads in the past which explained origin, pricing and
taste. Here is a Google search string:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.f...ur %29&qt_g=1

I always have available one of the three versions. It just another good
example of a Middle East tea that doesn't get much airplay in the West.
All Arabic commercial teas are a bargain if you think taste isn't
determined by price.

Jim

TeaDave wrote:
> Does anyone know much about this kind of tea? I don't think I've seen
> it discussed here, but I've heard it described as being a good kind of
> tea. I have heard that it is grown in Turkey, and I heard a few
> positive things about the taste, but I don't this kind of tea is rarely
> mentioned anywhere with the exception of maybe two books that didn't
> say much on it. If you've had it, where do you find this tea, and how
> was it?

I have a package of turkish tea. Name is CAYKUR tea special. also on
the front, Filiz...Luks....black tea 500g

Its CTC, very red. quick infusing. I Like it. It tastes differnt from
the assam/ceylon teas.

this big bag cost $2.97 at a place called cyros market. greek
/lebeonese?

I like it plain, but I use it as a base for spiced Chi.

This is all I know about turkish tea.

tom

On Mon, 08 Aug 2005 00:12:27 -0700, TeaDave wrote:

> Does anyone know much about this kind of tea? I don't think I've seen it
> discussed here, but I've heard it described as being a good kind of tea. I
> have heard that it is grown in Turkey, and I heard a few positive things
> about the taste, but I don't this kind of tea is rarely mentioned anywhere
> with the exception of maybe two books that didn't say much on it. If
> you've had it, where do you find this tea, and how was it?

Rize or Caykur teas are pretty good Turkish teas, available in any
supermarket there. The tea is grown on the Black Sea (Trabzon, for
instance). It is very low in tannin and therefore doesn't get bitter
easily. In Turkey they normally use the Samovar method, with the tea
concentrate at the top of a water (boiling) container. After about 20m of
brewing this concentrate is ready to be mixed with the water from the
lower container. About 1:5 or 2:3 is what I have often seen. There is
always sugar in the tea (cubes) or in the mouth before you drink it. The
tea is served in small tea glasses (fit into a fist) on a small saucer.
Luks means luxury, i.e. premium quality.
A long time ago I read that the Turkish grown tea is low in pesticides (as
opposed to the Chinese ones at that time).
Unfortunately a lot of Ceylon tea is nowadays used as a substitute for
proper Turkish tea (higher in tannin).

JB

Well, I went out and found some real caykur rize at a local mid-eastern
market. The price was awesome, penny per gram, 27 cents an ounce. Not
the strongest smell, but it made a reasonable black tea. I was
surprised to see how small the leaf was. Does anyone know if caykur is
ground up? I also noticed that the caykur stained my teacup quite a bit
more than most teas do, has anyone else noticed this? The flavor was
lacking the earthy taste of assam blacks, but it didn't have any
bitterness at all. Overall, a decent sort of tea, I will drink it in
large quantities when I don't care about taste, and serve it to
non-discriminating friends.

I remember buying this tea once in a Russian store in Brighton Beach
(New York). It was about as cheap as you describe -- under $2 for a
whole huge bag. I think this tea must be cut. The leaves were not
intact at all. And yes, I too was surprised by how much it stained my
cups! Would love to try some higher grade Turkish teas.

By the way, does anyone know where one can get some Georgian tea
(Georgia, the country, not the US state)? Georgia is not too far from
Turkey, so the profile of the tea might be similar.


TeaDave wrote:
> Well, I went out and found some real caykur rize at a local mid-eastern
> market. The price was awesome, penny per gram, 27 cents an ounce. Not
> the strongest smell, but it made a reasonable black tea. I was
> surprised to see how small the leaf was. Does anyone know if caykur is
> ground up? I also noticed that the caykur stained my teacup quite a bit
> more than most teas do, has anyone else noticed this? The flavor was
> lacking the earthy taste of assam blacks, but it didn't have any
> bitterness at all. Overall, a decent sort of tea, I will drink it in
> large quantities when I don't care about taste, and serve it to
> non-discriminating friends.

I splurge and buy the Tee Special Cicegi (flower) brand for 3/5
penny/gram. I think it is the most flavorable of the three. The mild
aroma is almost sweet with aftertaste that lingers and tingles the
tastebuds. It's not CTC or fines but a small grade of BOP. You can
buy a cheap Caydanlik and drink it as a concentrate. I drink this as
much as any other black. For the price you don't have to be stingy.
There is no pretense about multiple infusions. I think of it as a
bagless tea in the sense you can drink it off the top with minimal
particulate if you don't sip. It won't knaw on an empty stomach. I
think it would give any Assam a run as a Chai tea if you used the
concentrate. I notice that when I drink the last few sips off the top.
I think a must for any tea connoisseur collection if price isn't a
requirement. I'm not sure of the geography of Turkey but if the
climate is what I expect then tea can be grown anywhere with good taste
in the cup. It then becomes a matter of economics. I use glass and
off the top of my head would say this is the palest of any black ie not
very red. I use styrofoam to note the liquor residue of a tea which I
haven't done with this one.

Jim

TeaDave wrote:
> Well, I went out and found some real caykur rize at a local mid-eastern
> market. The price was awesome, penny per gram, 27 cents an ounce. Not
> the strongest smell, but it made a reasonable black tea. I was
> surprised to see how small the leaf was. Does anyone know if caykur is
> ground up? I also noticed that the caykur stained my teacup quite a bit
> more than most teas do, has anyone else noticed this? The flavor was
> lacking the earthy taste of assam blacks, but it didn't have any
> bitterness at all. Overall, a decent sort of tea, I will drink it in
> large quantities when I don't care about taste, and serve it to
> non-discriminating friends.

"Maxim Voronov" > writes:

> I remember buying this tea once in a Russian store in Brighton Beach
> (New York). It was about as cheap as you describe -- under $2 for a
> whole huge bag. I think this tea must be cut. The leaves were not
> intact at all. And yes, I too was surprised by how much it stained my
> cups! Would love to try some higher grade Turkish teas.
>
> By the way, does anyone know where one can get some Georgian tea
> (Georgia, the country, not the US state)? Georgia is not too far from
> Turkey, so the profile of the tea might be similar.

Nothing But Tea (www.nbtea.co.uk) has a relationship with small tea
growers in Georgia. I've had some beautiful samples of black tea from
them, but they appear to have only white teas in stock now. Note:
don't expect prices appropriate to Turkish commodity tea there.
Disclaimer: the samples I had were gratis (thanks, Nigel!)

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

I use a drip coffee maker to make a daily pot of CAYKUR, because the
filter catches all the small pieces of this " cut-tear -crumble "type
tea. I drink it all day on my days off. I drink chinese reds after
work as atreat.

tom

Thanks, Lew!


Lewis Perin wrote:
>
>
> Nothing But Tea (www.nbtea.co.uk) has a relationship with small tea
> growers in Georgia. I've had some beautiful samples of black tea from
> them, but they appear to have only white teas in stock now. Note:
> don't expect prices appropriate to Turkish commodity tea there.
> Disclaimer: the samples I had were gratis (thanks, Nigel!)
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /
> http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

> The lack of tannin
> makes it interesting as a drink by itself and makes it a good choice for
> iced tea, but for the most part the stuff I have tried does not seem
> terribly aromatic. Then again, for what it costs, you can afford to try
> several kinds and see if you like the nose on them yourself. --scott

I don't know any Turk who drinks his tea without sugar. I suppose the
aroma comes partly from the tea and partly from the sweetener. Splendid
drink

JB

Maxim -

You may want to try Abkhaz tea (Batumi region, I am sure you are familiar
with).
Try to do some searches at the tea.volny.edu which has several reports from
Abkhazia by Nikolai Monakhov.

Cheers,

Sasha.

"Maxim Voronov" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thanks, Lew!
>
>
> Lewis Perin wrote:
>>
>>
>> Nothing But Tea (www.nbtea.co.uk) has a relationship with small tea
>> growers in Georgia. I've had some beautiful samples of black tea from
>> them, but they appear to have only white teas in stock now. Note:
>> don't expect prices appropriate to Turkish commodity tea there.
>> Disclaimer: the samples I had were gratis (thanks, Nigel!)
>>
>> /Lew
>> ---
>> Lew Perin /
>> http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
>

Thanks, Sasha!

Maxim
Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
> Maxim -
>
> You may want to try Abkhaz tea (Batumi region, I am sure you are familiar
> with).
> Try to do some searches at the tea.volny.edu which has several reports from
> Abkhazia by Nikolai Monakhov.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sasha.
>
> "Maxim Voronov" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Thanks, Lew!
> >
> >
> > Lewis Perin wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> Nothing But Tea (www.nbtea.co.uk) has a relationship with small tea
> >> growers in Georgia. I've had some beautiful samples of black tea from
> >> them, but they appear to have only white teas in stock now. Note:
> >> don't expect prices appropriate to Turkish commodity tea there.
> >> Disclaimer: the samples I had were gratis (thanks, Nigel!)
> >>
> >> /Lew
> >> ---
> >> Lew Perin /
> >> http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
> >