Rize tea () is the
black tea
Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...
used for
Turkish tea. Produced in
Rize Province of
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
which has a mild climate with high precipitation and fertile
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
, when brewed it is mahogany in color.
In addition to being consumed at home, it is served in Turkish cafés by a ''çaycı'', in small, narrow-waisted glasses. It can be taken strong (Turkish: ''demli'' or dark) or weak (Turkish: ''açık'' or light), and is traditionally served with sugar crystals (Turkish: ''toz şeker'') or a couple of
sugar lumps (Turkish: ''kesme şeker''), although it is frequently consumed without any sugar, depending on personal preference.
History
Rize Province is located between the
Pontic Mountains
The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps (, meaning 'North Anatolian Mountains'), form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the "Parhar Mountains" in the local Turkish and Pontic Greek languages. The term ''Parhar'' ...
and the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
, and is considered to be the "wettest" corner of Turkey; this environment provides a specific ecosystem for tea growing.
The land contains many mountain valleys and has been prized for its biodiversity.
Tea was experimentally farmed in the Rize Province, starting in 1912 as an initiative by the Head of the Chamber of Agriculture, Hulusi Bey. But it was not until around 1945, that Turkish tea plantations in Rize Province were producing sizable crops.
There are other regions of tea growing within Turkey, with Rize Province being one of the largest and more successful.
By 1947, the first local tea factory was created and by 1958, the first regional tea research institute was created in Rize Province.
Labor
The success of tea crops in Rize brought work and wealth to a once impoverished area, as well as a large population change.
Modern day harvesting of Rize tea crops has been done by migrant laborers, especially people from the Caucasian countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan.
In 2021, the tea plantations were expecting 40,000 foreign workers during the harvest season however due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions, African laborers came to the region to work instead (specifically from Gambia, Senegal, Sudan and Zambia).
References
{{Cuisine of Turkey, beverage
Black tea
Turkish drinks