Types of Tea consumed in Turkey
Most of today’s Turkish tea comes from the Rize province, which is situated on the eastern side of the Black Sea coast. Known as the “tea capital” of the country, it has a cool climate and moderate temperatures that are ideal for tea cultivation. A sweet tea which is black in colour. Apple tea is actually a variant of Oralet tea although it is very popular among tourists just as Apple Tea.
Oralet is known as a “fruit tea”. It is available in various flavours such as cherry, lemon, and orange. It comespre-sweetened, therefore adding sugar is not advised.
Apart from these variants, Turkish tea is available as white, green, yellow, red and black tea. White tea is produced by steaming the young leaves, drying them in order to make the most of the flavour and smell.
Green tea is prepared by pressing, rolling and drying the leaves in addition to steaming at the beginning. Yellow tea is a result of drying the partially fermented young leaves, and red tea is produced by lightly fermenting the leaves so as not to damage them, prior to maturing it for about a year.
The famed black tea is manufactured by the traditional process of pressing, rolling, and fermentation, followed by drying. This dark, original tea brewed in kettles known as “samovars” forms the foundation of Turkey’s unique cuisine. All these teas have numerous health benefits including, but not limited to, acting as an energy booster, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agent, improving digestion while enhancing metabolism, improving memory and concentration, helping with body detoxification, regulating blood sugar, help decrease blood pressure, and being rich in antioxidants.