Contacts
the main/ Recipes

Tea Georgia. Georgian tea: varieties and their description

tart and sharp, but with a velvety peculiar taste, unlike others. In Soviet times, the country could be proud of tea grown in Georgia.

History of appearance

By the early 19th century, tea drinking had become a tradition in Russia, which led to the idea of ​​tea production in the territory of the Russian Empire. Production attempts have been made more than once, but the established activity to create a tea drink was established only during the Soviet era. After the Crimean War, the first tea plantations were taken up by an English officer living in Georgia.

Tea growing in Georgia began to develop significantly in Soviet times. In the 1920s, a project for the development of the tea business began to operate. For its implementation, tea factories were built and tea plantations began to be actively planted. In 1948, Ksenia Bakhtadze was the very first in breeding varieties - Georgian No. 1 and Georgian No. 2. In the future, several more high-quality varieties were bred and Ksenia was awarded the Stalin Prize. By the late 1970s, many varieties were exported and enjoyed tremendous success. At that time, the production of black baikhov, green sheet, brick, and tile was already established. But the downside was that the quality began to decrease with the production volumes. Manual picking was replaced by mechanical picking, which led to a deterioration in quality. During mechanical assembly, not only the upper young, but also old coarse leaves began to fall into the composition. The quality was also influenced by the collection in wet weather. The technology for drying the sheet has changed - the sheet has been dried once, and not twice, as it was before. Due to this, taste and aroma were significantly lost. Over time, production declined as there were a lot of rejects. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the production of Georgian tea ceased. Gradually, tea growing began to improve, but the former positions cannot be returned.

None of the varieties of Georgian tea of ​​the USSR era has survived to our time. During the rebuilding, the plantations were in disrepair and perished. Those varieties that are produced in modern times do not convey the taste of those grown at the beginning of production, but much better than those produced in the last years of the Soviet Union.

Black tea

The origin of this drink is associated with the Chinese Keemun tea. The more tips in the composition, the better the quality. It has a rich color, light taste and original aroma. If it is used with admixtures of Indian and Ceylon, then natural taste qualities disguised, since the taste of the latter is sharper. The positive factor of Georgian black tea is its ability to extract quickly.

The downsides are: shoots, dust, old leaves in the drink; violation of technology; application of reduced production technologies. It was these shortcomings that created a bad reputation for tea, which has survived to this day.

Types of tea

  • Bouquet of Georgia;
  • Extra;
  • Top grade;
  • First grade;
  • Second grade.

Extra and a bouquet of Georgia amazed by their amazing taste and the highest quality. They were made exclusively from the top leaves of the bush and contained a large number of tips. The quality of the first grade was already lower, due to the fact that the collection was not very pure and included shoots. The second grade was carried out using special machines and contained foreign inclusions.

Georgian tea 36 and Vivacity were especially popular. The basis was made by Georgian tea material, but significantly mixed with Ceylon and Indian.

Green tea

All types of green leafy Georgian tea were numbered from 10 to 125. Each number indicated quality, that is, # 10 was of the lowest quality and # 125 was of the highest grade. Tea Georgian bouquet and Extra were considered the best varieties at the world level. The first, second and third grades were of lower quality, but the third grade was not bad either. In the republics of Central Asia, Georgian green tea No.95, which has a characteristic tart taste, was very popular.

Brewing tea in Georgian

The main feature of the Georgian method of brewing tea is that the teapot heats up to a temperature of 100 C, but it must be dry inside. It is unacceptable to rinse the kettle with hot water. Then dry tea leaves (1.5 teaspoons per glass) are poured into the kettle, heated to the desired temperature, and hot water is poured in a small stream. You need to stand for three minutes and you can start drinking tea. The aroma is released due to the double heat treatment tea. Such a tea drink prepared according to the right recipe has an exceptional and unique aroma.

Undoubtedly at that time in Georgia and not only, Bouquet and Extra tea were considered the most elite. Today tea production in Georgia is poorly developed. The factory in Chakwa produces brick green tea ny drink for the peoples of Central Asia.

I am not a very whimsical person in everyday life. Despite the fact that now I earn quite good money, I buy groceries at Pyaterochka or Avoska and can hardly distinguish high-quality raw smoked sausage from the cheapest counterfeit from her. In general, I am not a foodie. Not a gourmet at all. Therefore, I usually do not support discussions about "one hundred varieties of sausage" and their quality now and under the Soviet Socialist Republic. In the culinary sense, I won practically nothing from the death of the USSR and the arrival of a market economy. Almost...

But there is one exception - I really love TEA. I drink five to fifteen glasses of tea daily. And I am glad that in post-Soviet Russia I can really drink tea, and not the heap that was called tea in the USSR. Why burda - because no way, no "tea ceremonies" can be done good tea from a bad brew. And the quality of the tea leaves sold in Soviet stores was, as they said then, below any criticism. In a relatively free sale in Soviet stores, one could buy the following varieties of tea:


  • Tea N 36 (Georgian and 36% Indian) (green packaging)

  • Tea N 20 (Georgian and 20% Indian) (green packaging)

  • Krasnodar premium tea

  • Georgian tea of ​​the highest grade

  • Georgian tea first grade

  • Georgian tea second grade

  • Krasnodar tea of ​​the first, second and even THIRD grade

The quality of Georgian tea was disgusting. "Georgian tea of ​​the second grade" looked like sawdust, there were occasionally pieces of branches in it (they were called "firewood"), it smelled of tobacco and had a disgusting taste. Krasnodar was considered even worse than Georgian. Basically it was bought for brewing "chifir" - a drink obtained by long-term digestion of highly concentrated brew. For its preparation, neither the smell nor the taste of the tea was important - only the amount of tein (tea caffeine) was important ...

More or less normal tea, which could be drunk normally, was considered "Tea No. 36" or as it was usually called "thirty-sixth". When it was "thrown out" on the counters, a queue of an hour and a half formed immediately. And they gave strictly "two packs in one hand." This usually happened at the end of the month. when the store needed to "get a plan" urgently. The pack was one hundred grams, one pack was enough for a maximum of a week. And then with a very economical expenditure.


Sometimes a miracle happened. In some thread of the food set for the holiday, it turned out to be INDIAN tea. Why in the set - because in stores (in ordinary stores in my native Krasnoyarsk) it was NEVER.

Indian tea sold in the USSR was imported in bulk and packaged at tea-packing factories in standard packaging - a cardboard box "with an elephant" 50 and 100 grams each (for premium tea). For the first grade Indian tea, a green-red packaging was used. Tea sold as Indian tea has not always really been that. Thus, in the 1980s, a mixture was sold as "first grade Indian tea", which included 55% Georgian, 25% Madagascar, 15% Indian and 5% Ceylon tea.


Indian tea was a real SHORTAGE. They speculated on them, they gave them to friends, they were paid for small services, he was ... he was .. he was - TEA. He was invited to visit - come, I got some INDIAN TEA. In general, Indian tea was an EVENT. It seemed to me then that tea is better than Indian "with an elephant" and you can't think of something. No, of course there were legends about a certain tea called "Bouquet of Georgia", but I have never seen it, I do not even know what the packaging from it looked like. Or maybe he wasn't there ...

There was also tea served in canteens and on long-distance trains. It cost three kopecks, but it was better not to drink it. especially in canteens. It was done like this - an old, already brewed tea leaves were taken, baking soda was added to it, and all this was boiled over for fifteen to twenty minutes. If the color was not dark enough, burnt sugar was added. Naturally, no claims to quality were accepted - "if you don't like it, don't drink it." I usually did not drink, I took compote or jelly instead of tea.

But now you can go to any cheap cafe and you will be offered a choice of 3-5 varieties of tea. Or go to the same "Avoska" and there to choose a drink to your liking from the available 10-15 varieties. Or, as I periodically do, go to a special tea store and dig around for half an hour, choosing from one and a half hundred options placed on the shelves. Isn't that happiness?

So I traded Soviet Union not for a hundred varieties of sausage, I exchanged it for one and a half hundred varieties of tea. And I have no regrets ...


In the period 1917-1923, Soviet Russia went through a "tea" period: the use of alcoholic beverages was officially banned, while the army and industrial workers were supplied with tea free of charge. The organization "Tsentrochay" was created, which was engaged in the distribution of tea from confiscated warehouses of tea trading companies. The reserves were so great that until 1923 there was no need to buy tea abroad ...

By the end of the 1970s, the area for tea in the USSR reached 97 thousand hectares, there were 80 modern tea industry enterprises in the country. Only in Georgia 95 thousand tons of ready-made tea were produced per year. By 1986, the total production of tea in the USSR reached 150 thousand tons, slab black and green - 8 thousand tons, green brick - 9 thousand tons.

In the 1950s - 1970s, the USSR turned into a tea-exporting country - Georgian, Azerbaijani and Krasnodar teas were supplied to Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, South Yemen, Mongolia. Mainly brick and tiled tea... The USSR's need for tea was met by its own production, in different years, by an amount from 2/3 to 3/4.

By the 1970s, at the level of the leadership of the USSR, a decision was already ripe to specialize areas suitable for tea production in such a production. It was supposed to withdraw land used for other crops and transfer them to tea production.

However, these plans were not implemented. Moreover, under the pretext of getting rid of manual labor, by the beginning of the 1980s, manual collection of tea leaves was almost completely stopped in Georgia, having switched entirely to machine harvesting, which gives extremely low quality products.

The import of tea from China continued until 1970. Subsequently, Chinese imports were curtailed, purchases of tea began in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Kenya, Tanzania. Since the quality of Georgian tea, in comparison with imported tea, was low (mainly due to attempts to mechanize the collection of tea leaves), mixing of imported teas with Georgian tea was actively practiced, as a result of which a product of acceptable quality and price was obtained.

By the early 1980s, it became almost impossible to buy pure Indian or Ceylon tea in ordinary stores - it was imported extremely rarely and in small batches, it was instantly sold out. Sometimes Indian tea was brought into canteens and canteens of enterprises and institutions. At this time, shops usually sold low-grade Georgian tea with “wood” and “hay scent”. The following brands were also sold, but were rare:


  • Tea No. 36 (Georgian and 36% Indian) (green packaging)

  • Tea No. 20 (Georgian and 20% Indian) (green packaging)

  • Krasnodar premium tea

  • Georgian tea of ​​the highest grade

  • Georgian tea first grade

  • Georgian tea second grade

The quality of Georgian tea was disgusting. "Georgian tea of ​​the second grade" looked like sawdust, there were occasionally pieces of branches in it (they were called "firewood"), it smelled of tobacco and had a disgusting taste.

Krasnodar was considered even worse than Georgian. Basically it was bought for brewing "chifir" - a drink obtained by long-term digestion of highly concentrated brew. For its preparation, neither the smell nor the taste of the tea was important - only the amount of tein (tea caffeine) was important ...

More or less normal tea, which could be drunk normally, was considered "Tea No. 36" or as it was usually called "thirty-sixth". When it was "thrown out" on the counters, a queue of an hour and a half was immediately formed. And they gave strictly "two packs in one hand."

This usually happened at the end of the month. when the store needed to "get a plan" urgently. The pack was one hundred grams, one pack was enough for a maximum of a week. And then with a very economical expenditure.

Indian tea sold in the USSR was imported in bulk and packaged at tea-packing factories in standard packaging - a cardboard box "with an elephant" 50 and 100 grams each (for premium tea). For the first grade Indian tea, a green-red packaging was used.

Tea sold as Indian tea has not always really been that. Thus, in the 1980s, a mixture was sold as "first grade Indian tea", which included 55% Georgian, 25% Madagascar, 15% Indian and 5% Ceylon tea.

Own production of tea after 1980 fell significantly, the quality deteriorated. Since the mid-1980s, a progressive commodity shortage has affected essential goods, including sugar and tea.

At the same time, the internal economic processes of the USSR coincided with the death of Indian and Ceylon tea plantations (another period of growth has come to an end) and an increase in world prices for tea. As a result, tea, like a number of other food products, almost disappeared from the free sale and began to be sold with coupons.

Only low-grade tea in some cases could be bought freely. Subsequently, Turkish tea began to be bought in large quantities, which was very poorly brewed. It was sold in bulk without coupons. In the same years, green tea appeared on sale in the middle zone and in the north of the country, which was practically not imported to these regions before. It was also sold freely.

There was also tea served in canteens and on long-distance trains. It cost three kopecks, but it was better not to drink it. especially in canteens. It was done like this - an old, already brewed tea leaves were taken, baking soda was added to it and all this was boiled over for fifteen to twenty minutes. If the color was not dark enough, burnt sugar was added. Naturally, no claims to quality were accepted - "if you don't like it, don't drink it." I usually did not drink, I took compote or jelly instead of tea.

In the first years after the collapse of the USSR, both Russian and Georgian tea production was completely abandoned. Georgia had no reason to maintain this production, since its only market was Russia, which, due to the drop in the quality of Georgian tea, had already reoriented itself to buying tea in other states.

The tea production of Azerbaijan has survived, which currently satisfies part of the country's domestic demand for tea. Some of the Georgian tea plantations are still abandoned. Several of its own tea importing companies have now been established in Russia, as well as small foreign representative offices.

The production of tea in the USSR was a clear indicator of the degradation of the entire economy of the country. From one kilogram of tea, five kilograms were falsified, of which two were allowed into trade, and three went to the left. As a result, it turned out on paper, overfulfillment of the plan by 200%, state awards to the ministries, millions of rubles in shadow economy and sawdust mixture to Soviet buyers

The first tea plantations in Georgia appeared in the regions of Ozurgeti and Chakvi after the Crimean War. Jacob McNamara, having married a Georgian woman, stayed in the country and started creating small plantations.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Georgian tea could easily create significant competition for Chinese tea, but due to the slow and insufficiently large production volume, imported varieties pushed it out of the market.

It was only in the 1920s that a program for the development of the tea business appeared in the country. A special research institute was created, the purpose of which was to create new varieties of tea. For the same purpose, the construction of factories and the regular planting of plantations began.

Georgian tea was distinguished by a rather tart taste and speed of brewing, and in terms of the quality of the valuable nutrients it contained, it was in no way inferior to the best foreign samples.

Georgian tea varieties

Among the variety of varieties, the leading place was occupied by Georgian tea "Bouquet of Georgia" and "Russian Uncle", which received a gold medal at the famous Paris exhibition. Its quality was of the highest standard. The composition consisted of young leaves from the very tops of tea bushes and a large number of buds, or, as they are also called, tips. Next came the varieties "Kara-Dere", "Ozurgetsky", "Zedoban" and "Extra".

Varieties of green tea were labeled with special numbers from 10 to 125 and were divided into first, second and third varieties. The numbers indicated the quality of a particular species. The best and, accordingly, the highest grade was considered number 125.

The first grade included teas with numbers 85, 95, 100 and 110. The second grade was numbered 45, 55, 60 and 65. The third and lowest were teas with numbers 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, 40.

Popularity

Georgian green tea has gained its popularity due to its good cleansing properties. And when interacting with the cat's eye, he raised the immune system.

Today, the assortment of tea varieties is increasing every year, which allows you to choose the drink you like the most to your taste. Not only black, but also white, green varieties are very popular, as well as unique teas with the addition of blueberries, raspberries, quince leaves and a wide variety of Caucasian herbs and berries.

So, for example, "Georgian Tea 1847" from a major producer in 2016 performed at the international championship in Seoul. Despite the fact that the variety was produced relatively recently, it won prizes in the competition in the category "Making tea". This type of tea became the winner in as many as four nominations: "Best result of 2016", "Aftertaste", "Unrivaled aroma" and "Excellent taste". Georgian tea aroused great interest at the championship and received the highest possible marks. At the festival in Prague, the Georgian drink, where all the variety of varieties was presented, also won prizes and received significant recognition.

Georgian tea, produced and grown correctly, is not inferior even the best varieties Chinese. And since the popularity of natural products is noticeably growing in the country, a real Georgian drink, produced only organically, is in great demand today.

And all why? Tea bushes are relatively little susceptible to diseases caused by various pests, therefore, chemicals are never used for cultivation. Thanks to such an important factor organic product is rapidly gaining popularity.

Georgian tile tea

Georgian pressed tea is especially popular among tourists, military men and hunters. This kind there is no equal, thanks to its compactness and convenience not only in transportation, but also in use.

Tiled tea consists of homogeneous mass, has a hard and smooth surface, which also adds some popularity to it. The tiles are quite durable, do not crumble or break in the hands. Compaction takes place under high pressure, due to which the bulk of the resinous substances is squeezed out of the crumb. It is distinguished by its special strength and rich velvety aroma.

Advantages

The indisputable advantages of Georgian tea include the presence of a large number of tips in its composition, due to which the tea is maximally saturated with all the necessary nutrients.

Flaws

During the production of tea, some mechanical spoilage occurs, in which a large amount of small crumbs resembling dust appears. Before brewing, the tea must be sieved so that the taste is richer and the tea is transparent. It is the presence of this factor that affects a slight decrease in the demand for tea among buyers.

Cooking method

The main feature of brewing this type of tea is the overheated teapot. Only after the container is almost red-hot, the tea leaves are poured into it and poured with boiling water. With this method, two or three minutes are enough for the tea to infuse and a rich aroma to appear, after which you can already start your meal.

Another brewing option is a combination of green tea and milk, which turns the drink into a magic elixir.

It is believed that if you regularly drink green tea with milk, then the perception of stress decreases, the work of blood vessels improves, brain activity is stimulated, and the aging process slows down and digestion improves. The caffeine contained in the green leaf relieves fatigue and has a beneficial effect on the body's metabolism. Fluoride strengthens teeth, and vitamins in the brewed drink help break down subcutaneous fats.

Tea is an excellent natural drink.

“VV Pokhlebkin told a lot of interesting things about the history and fate of the tea business in the Soviet state and especially in Georgia in his book about tea. The magazine "Coffee and Tea in Russia" published in 2000 the views of Dr. Tech. Levana Lazishvili on the topic "Is it possible to restore the former glory of Georgian tea." Here we will give only basic information about the modern production of tea in the modern space of the CIS, primarily in Georgia, which in the Soviet years was the main supplier of tea and in the record 1970 produced 95 thousand tons. Then a decline followed, and over a decade from 1981 until 1991, tea production went down even more sharply to the level of 57 thousand tons with absolutely poor quality products.

International statistics noted that in 1993, production practically stopped altogether. The war, especially in Abkhazia, severed economic ties and created chaos in production.

Nevertheless, work on some plantations was intensified, and several factories were refurbished. Since 1995, the German company "Martin Bauer", known for its fruit and herbal teas, has been working to increase the production of green and black tea at 15 enterprises in Georgia, investing heavily in this.

The latest available information suggests an increase in Georgia, especially in Adjara, attention to the undoubted potential of local tea production. The volume of products produced does not reach 10 thousand tons per year, and the Georgians, who are not very fond of tea, prepare it mainly for export. Only semi-finished tea of ​​low quality in bags is supplied to Russia and some other neighboring countries. In a rare shop on the tea counter you can find “Tea. First grade. No. 36. Made from selected varieties of Indian and Georgian tea ”. (V. M. Semenov. "Invitation to tea")

“Among all the Caucasian tea-producing regions, Georgia undoubtedly occupied a leading position in many areas: in the development of the science of tea production, in the introduction of mechanization, in the results achieved, etc.

The main tea plantations of Georgia were located in the western regions of the country and in Abkhazia.

Georgian teas were quite different original taste... They were velvety, tart and made a good impression. Their low extractability could be easily overcome by slightly increasing the brewing rate and strictly following its rules. In terms of the content of valuable substances, high-quality Georgian tea was not inferior to many well-known foreign varieties.

One of the significant achievements of Georgian tea growers was the development by them in the 30-70s of various varieties of green tea - over two dozen. The best of them are Georgian green tea Bouquet of Georgia, Extra, top grade №125.

By the end of the 1980s, Georgia reached the fifth place in terms of tea production (almost 150 thousand tons), and the income from it was half of its budget. However, the pursuit of the shaft has costly affected the quality of tea products. It worsened and reached a critical level. A way out of the impasse was found quite original: firstly, Georgia mastered the technology of producing green brick tea, using its low-quality raw materials for this; secondly, she began to mix in her own low-quality black long tea quality Indian, thus striving to improve the consumer properties of products.

After the collapse of the USSR, the leadership of independent Georgia took a course towards curtailing tea production and destroying plantations under the pretext that tea was an alien product for Georgia.

Today Georgian tea production is in deep decline. The total area of ​​tea plantations is 50 thousand hectares.

The main tea producers are Kartuli Chai JSC and the German company Martin Bauer. The latter invested heavily in the tea industry in Georgia and in 1997 collected 6,000 tons of tea. The products of both companies are supplied mainly to the markets of Russia and other CIS countries. " (Yu. G. Ivanov. "Encyclopedia of Tea")