Turkish Tea Culture: Why Çay Is Heart of Turkey

✓ Last reviewed: May 2026 — Verified and updated by our licensed Turkey travel experts. Prices, opening hours and visa rules reflect the latest 2026 guidance. Quick Answer: Turkish tea, or çay (pronounced chai), is the social lifeblood of Turkey, a powerful symbol of hospitality and connection that transcends mealtimes. It’s a strong black tea grown in the Black Sea region, brewed in a double teapot called a çaydanlık , and served in small, tulip-shaped glasses. Consumed from sunrise to sunset in homes, bazaars, and dedicated tea gardens (çay bahçesi), it is offered as a welcome to guests, a pause during a workday, and the constant, steaming punctuation in the daily rhythm of Turkish life. What is the Surprising History of Tea in Turkey? While Turkey is now one of the world's top tea-consuming nations, its love affair with çay is surprisingly modern. Unlike coffee, which has a centuries-old history in the Ottoman Empire, tea only became a widespread national beverage in the 20th century. Before the 1900s, tea was an expensive import enjoyed by a wealthy elite, primarily in cosmopolitan centers like Istanbul . The vast majority of the population drank coffee, water, or sherbet. This all changed with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The newly formed Republic of Turkey, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, lost its coffee-producing territories in Yemen and Arabia. Coffee suddenly became a costly import, straining the young nation's economy. In a brilliant move of agricultural and economic foresight, Atatürk's government sought a domestic alternative. They identified the lush, rainy northeastern Black Sea coast as having a climate remarkably similar to other tea-growing regions in Asia. Initial attempts in the late 19th century had been unsuccessful, but in the 1920s and 1930s, the government launched a serious initiative. Seeds were brought from Georgia, and legislation was passed in 1924 to encourage cultivation around the city of Rize .