CaykurBlack Tea, Rize, 500 grams

I lived in Istanbul for 9 years. If you are looking for authentic Turkish black tea, this is it. This exact product from Caykur is the most popular tea among Turks. I’m a coffee person but Caykur made made a tea-lover out of me. The flavor is delicious and robust. Of course how you “cook” it makes a difference. I recommend you get a double tea pot where the tea leaves are brewed on top in a heavy concentrate, and pure boiled water is in the lower pot. In your cup, poor the tea first, about a quarter to a half cup depending on your liking then add the plain boiled water to dilute the tea. Many Turks use one or two sugar cubes.

I ordered this tea for my daughter and I, after watching one too many Turkish dramas on Netflix. It has a fresh earthy aroma and strong delicious flavor. We use a caydanlik (Turkish double teapot) for brewing the tea, which makes a huge difference. (You could also use a double boiler type method.) We add 5 heaping tablespoons of tea in the top pot for 7 cups of water. Half the water goes into the bottom teapot (none in the top), bring to a boil, then pour water from the bottom pot into the top pot (with tea leaves) to about the spout level. Then you refill the bottom pot with the remaining water and put the small pot on top of the larger pot and brew on low heat. It steeps a very long time (15-20 mins) until all the tea leaves in the top pot have sunk to the bottom. Our teapot has a small built-in mesh strainer, but we also use a small hand held strainer over our cups as Turkish teas (and coffees) are finely ground. Each teacup is filled about 1/3 of the way with strongly brewed tea, and the rest is topped off with water brewed from the bottom pot. (We like to think of it more as a tea "concentrate.") The secret to brewing is to not allow the tea in the top pot to boil or become too hot or the tea will become bitter and astringent. Brewing requires a bit of a learning curve (we had a few bitter batches before we got all the proportions and heat right), but I don't think my daughter and I will ever go back to drinking regular black tea from tea bags again. ;)

Although the tea is a little bit lighter in color than I had anticipated—since Turkish Rize tea is supposed to be a dark crimson color—the overall taste, especially with a little bit of sweetener added, isn’t that bad at all! It’s certainly worth the money, and I will definitely be buying more when I run out.

I am Turkish and I think it is safe to say most Turkish tea brands taste the same because they all come from the Black Sea region (Karadeniz). This is not a bad thing but just a piece of information in case you are conflicted about which Turkish tea brand to purchase. There is another brand (Altinbas) which I seem to favor over other brands but to tell you the truth, it is not distinct from other brands (such as this one). Most Turkish tea is harvested and managed by Caykur, a government institution. This is black tea as most Turkish teas are. It has a nice black tea flavor and really helps with digestion. Just remember, Turkish bulk tea is cooked differently from tea bags. You will need a kettle with a top and you will need steep the tea for a while. You can regulate the strength of the tea by mixing the steeped tea with the boiling water. I wouldn't make it too dark as it is strong and contains caffeine. I prefer medium light brown/burgandy color.

Aroma and color are good. A little dry pieces floating on top of cup

Fresh and delicious Turkish tea. After watching countless Turkish series, I always wondered how this tea tasted. So I decided to see what all the fuss is about. I really recommend this brand and would suggest you also get yourself a double teapot to brew the tea traditionally. Will definitely purchase other Caykur branded Turkish teas!Afiyet olsun!

Was used to Indian chai, slightly different flavor but tastes great.

This is not the same tea that I’ve got from Turkey. The taste is not the same at all. This one is finely ground and feels like the dust you find at the bottom of the sack