The story of Turkish tea is one of the most surprising in the history of food: a nation of dedicated coffee drinkers became, within a few generations, one of the biggest tea-consuming countries on earth. Tea arrived late, was resisted, and then triumphed so completely that today a glass of çay is the default greeting in every corner of the country. Understanding how that happened means following the leaf from the mountains of the Caucasus to the terraced hillsides of Rize, and through a century of politics, war, and national pride.
From Coffee to Cay
For centuries, the Ottoman Empire was a coffee culture. Coffee arrived in Istanbul in the sixteenth century and became the drink of scholars, merchants, and the great coffeehouses of the capital.
Tea was known but marginal, an exotic import used mainly in the palace and among the wealthy. It was drunk in the Chinese and Japanese manner, with little of the ritual that later made it Turkish.
The great reversal began only in the late nineteenth century, when coffee became expensive and difficult to obtain. The empire began looking for a cheaper, more reliable everyday drink, and tea, already popular in neighboring Russia and Iran, was the obvious candidate.
The early plantations were a gamble: the plants were delicate, the harvest methods were new, and the farmers of the region had no tradition of growing tea. Government agronomists worked alongside local families to teach the techniques, and the first factories were small and experimental. It took years of trial and error before the crop was reliable enough to support a real industry.
The First Plantings
The earliest attempts to grow tea in Ottoman lands date to the late nineteenth century, when seeds were brought from Japan and China and planted in the Black Sea region. The results were promising but small-scale.
The real breakthrough came in the early twentieth century, when the government began serious experiments on the humid coastal slopes of Rize. The climate, with its heavy rainfall and mild temperatures, turned out to be ideal for the camellia sinensis plant.
By the 1920s, the plantations of the eastern Black Sea coast were producing real harvests, and the foundations of an industry were laid. The leaves grown there proved well suited to the strong, dark style of brewing that Turkish drinkers were beginning to develop.
The War That Changed Everything
The event that sealed the fate of Turkish tea was the First World War and its aftermath. The empire collapsed, and with it the easy trade routes that had supplied coffee and other goods.
During the war years, coffee became scarce and almost unaffordable for ordinary people. Tea, which could be grown on home soil and brewed with small amounts of leaf, became the practical substitute.
When the war ended, the habit had already taken hold. A generation that had learned to start the day with tea, and to offer tea to guests, never fully returned to coffee, and the new republic inherited a country that was already drinking tea as its everyday drink.
The state effort was remarkably organized for its time. Farmers received seedlings, training, and guaranteed prices, while the processing plants standardized the leaf into the familiar broken style that brews dark and strong. The result was a uniform national product, available in every village, at a price every family could afford.
The Republic and the Tea Industry
The young Republic of Turkey, founded in 1923, saw tea as a matter of national importance. Growing tea at home meant self-sufficiency and a product that could be sold across the country.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the state invested in plantations, processing plants, and research. Rize became the center of a deliberate effort to build a modern tea industry from the ground up.
The state tea monopoly, established in the mid-twentieth century, guaranteed farmers a market and standardized the product. This state backing turned a regional crop into a national institution, and the familiar bags of Black Sea tea became a fixture in every kitchen.
The boom transformed daily life across the country. Offices installed tea servers, shops offered a glass to every customer, and the phrase for a social visit came to include the tea that would be served. The glass, the saucer, and the sugar cubes became as standard as the plates on the table.
The Tea Boom of the 1950s
The 1950s were the turning point for Turkish tea consumption. With the economy growing and the state keeping prices low, tea became affordable for every household.
The habit spread from the Black Sea coast to the rest of the country, and the tea garden, the çay bahçesi, appeared in every town. These gardens, with their low tables and tulip glasses, became the social heart of Turkish public life.
By the end of the decade, Turkey had decisively become a tea-drinking country. The number of gardens, the volume of imports replaced by domestic harvests, and the daily ritual of the glass all pointed one way: tea had won.
In the big cities, the gardens took on their own character: hillside gardens for the view, waterside gardens for the breeze, and neighborhood gardens where the same faces appeared every day. The backgammon board, the newspaper, and the slow hours became part of the furniture of Turkish public life.
The Rise of the Tea Garden
The tea garden is a uniquely Turkish institution, and its history is tied to the rise of tea itself. As tea spread in the 1950s and 1960s, gardens opened in parks, on hillsides, and along waterfronts.
The gardens were democratic places, open to everyone, where a glass cost very little and a table could be kept for hours. Students, workers, and retired men alike made them their second living room.
The ritual developed quickly: the small tulip glass, the saucer, the two sugar cubes, the constant refill. The tea garden gave the drink its social shape, and that shape has survived unchanged into the present day.
The connection even reached the language. Expressions like çay içmek, to drink tea, became shorthand for sitting down together, and the offer of tea became the universal gesture of welcome. The drink was no longer simply consumed; it was performed, poured, and shared as part of what it meant to be hospitable.
Tea and National Identity
Tea became bound up with Turkish identity in a way that few foods ever do. It is the drink of hospitality, the first thing offered to a guest, and the constant companion of conversation.
The state monopoly kept the product national, and the Black Sea region became a point of pride. Schoolchildren learned that Turkish tea was grown on Turkish soil, and the connection between the crop and the nation was taught as a matter of course.
This identification with the drink explains its resilience. Wars, economic crises, and changing fashions have all come and gone, and the glass of çay has remained exactly where it was.
The Modern Tea Landscape
Today, Turkey is one of the world’s leading tea-consuming countries, and the domestic industry remains centered on the Black Sea coast. The old monopoly has given way to private companies, and the market is more competitive than ever.
Modern habits have layered on top of the tradition: tea bags, herbal infusions, and international tea styles are all available now. But the classic glass of brewed Black Sea tea still dominates, in homes, gardens, and workplaces.
The tea garden remains as busy as ever, and the ferry tea ritual is unchanged. The drink that began as a wartime substitute has become a permanent fixture of Turkish daily life.
History explains the details that newcomers find curious. The habit of drinking tea very hot, in small glasses, comes from an era when the drink was precious and meant to be savored slowly. The generosity of the refill is a remnant of a time when hospitality was measured in what you could offer a guest.
The Economics of the Crop
The tea harvest is also the economy of the Black Sea coast, and millions of people in the region depend on the crop. The terraced fields, the processing plants, and the seasonal labor all turn on the same green leaf.
The government’s early support made tea a reliable income for small farmers, and the crop still anchors the regional economy today. A bad harvest is news across the country, because the tea on every table traces back to these hills.
The industry has been protected for a century, and no government has dared to neglect the growers. The leaf that fills the glasses is also the livelihood of a region.
The Ritual That History Made
Every detail of the Turkish tea ritual has a history behind it. The double pot, the çaydanlık, developed as a way to keep tea strong and hot all day, and it has been standard for generations.
The tulip glass, shaped to show the color of the brew, became the symbol of Turkish tea culture. The sugar cubes, the refill, and the unhurried pace all took shape as the drink moved from novelty to daily necessity.
When you lift a glass of çay in Turkey today, you are taking part in a ritual that a century of history shaped: a substitute that became a staple, a regional crop that became a national symbol, and a simple drink that became the very sound of Turkish hospitality.
Frequently asked questions
When did tea become popular in Turkey?
Tea grew popular during and after the First World War, when coffee became scarce and expensive. The habit took hold during the war years, and by the 1950s, with the state keeping prices low and domestic production growing, tea had become the everyday drink of the whole country. What began as a wartime substitute turned into a permanent national institution within a few decades.
Where does Turkish tea come from?
Turkish tea is grown almost entirely on the eastern Black Sea coast, with the province of Rize at the center of production. The humid climate and heavy rainfall of the region proved ideal for tea cultivation, and the plantations there now supply most of the country’s tea. The first successful plantings date to the early twentieth century, and the region has remained the heart of the industry ever since.
Why did Turkey switch from coffee to tea?
The switch was driven by cost and availability. Coffee had to be imported and became expensive and scarce during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the First World War. Tea, which could be grown on Turkish soil and brewed from a small amount of leaf, was the practical replacement. Once the habit formed, it stuck, and the republic’s investment in domestic tea production sealed the change.
All Over Information
The All Over Information editorial team researches and writes practical English-language guides to Turkey. Facts are checked against official and local sources before publication, prices are published as dated ranges rather than quotes, and guides are revised when things change. We accept no sponsored posts, paid placements or paid links.
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