Georgian tea of ​​the ussr. Georgian tea: history and modernity

Tea - who doesn't love it? It is difficult to imagine even one day without drinking a mug of this aromatic and warming drink. The most common types of tea are Chinese and Indian. We fell in love with the product of these countries for its special quality. Less common on the territory of Russia are varieties - sunny Georgia.

Growing tea in Georgia

Even during the tsarist rule, they tried to grow their own tea in the empire, because the fashion for tea drinking took root in the country for a long time. And many dreamed of having their own plantations. Georgian tea in industrial volumes was the first to grow a captive Englishman who came to the territory of Georgia and married a local woman. Prior to that, all attempts to grow were not crowned with success either with wealthy landowners or with church officials.

At the tea exhibition in 1864, "Caucasian tea" was presented to the general public for the first time, but since its quality was low, it was necessary to add a product from China to it.

Improving the quality of Georgian tea

At the beginning of the twentieth century, they began to seriously work on the technology of growing and collecting tea leaves. High grades of Georgian tea were created. These are "Uncle's Tea", "Zedoban", "Bogatyr" and "Kara-Dere". More tea buds (tips) were added to their composition. And due to the improvement of technology, they could boldly compete in the battle for quality with the best Chinese varieties.

When the time of Soviet power came, Georgian tea was in the field of special attention. In 1920, plantations were created in almost every territory of Georgia in order to increase production volumes and completely abandon foreign drinks. Whole scientific organizations were created to improve the technology, quality and volume of tea collection. By 1970, harvests of fragrant leaves were at their peak - now you could even send them for export to other countries.

Deterioration of tea quality

But, as it happens, with the increase in collection, the quality was greatly reduced. Georgian tea has ceased to be collected correctly, chasing the quantity, and tea harvesting machines do not choose fresh leaves, but they take everything, not like the hands of a person. Because of this, dry old leaves began to get into the composition, the number of buds also decreased.

The technology of leaf drying has also changed - instead of drying twice, they began to dry it only once, then the tea passed heat treatment, due to which the aroma and taste were lost.

In the last years of the life of the USSR, this production fell by half, and even then not all of the product went to consumers - half was simply recycled. Thus, Georgian tea, once famous, received the title of a low-grade product, suitable only in the absence of a better one.

Krasnodar tea

People simply stopped buying tea collected on the territory of a great power. The Georgian became the most popular, but it continued to gather dust on the shelves of shops and warehouses. It was necessary to urgently come up with an alternative, because entire plantations were lost, the workers had nothing to pay with. A tea riot was imminent.

But, as it turned out, all ingenious is simple! With the words: "Eh, where ours did not disappear!" - the factory mixed Indian and Georgian tea... In this way, one of the best products USSR - "Krasnodar Tea". Its taste compares favorably with pure Georgian, and the price was much lower than that of foreign drinks.

Georgian tea now

None of the varieties of Georgian tea of ​​the USSR era has reached our time. During the rebuilding, the plantations were abandoned and neglected, the tea bushes perished. Those varieties that are being produced now are worse than the first ones grown at the very beginning of production, but much better than those that were produced in the last years of the USSR.

At the moment, there are two most good looks, whose producers are Samaya and Gurieli. These teas have proven themselves well in the modern market, deservedly received the title of a product of average quality or first grade (not to be confused with the highest). It is slightly worse than Indian, Chinese and English varieties in taste, but the price of these teas is more attractive for the present time.

The revival of Georgian tea has just begun, it is worth hoping that soon it will take its former position as a product of the highest quality and will merge into our life as a golden stream of taste and aroma.

Of all the union republics for growing tea Georgia and Armenia were ideal. The end of the 20s of the last century was marked by the launch of Georgian tea... Tea factories were built, smashed tea plantations... And in the 30s, the same tendency swept the Azerbaijan SSR. In 1937, the country learned azerbaijani tea.

Territory Krasnodar Territory became the third, where they continued to grow and produce tea... Indeed, the climate was warm and humid, that is, optimal for the tea plant. In 1936, the first tea plantations appeared in two districts (Adlerovsky, Lazarevsky). Due to the second world war, all developments in this direction had to be curtailed. It became possible to return to work again only by 1949. Later, plantations were added in three more districts of the region (Maikop, Goryache-Klyuchevskoy, Tula).

The planting area expanded. Stavrapolye, Ukrainian and Kazakh SSR became experimental sites for cultivation tea... In general, we can say that attempts to cultivate tea in these regions have not failed. Winter did not destroy the plantings, quality of tea was relative. However, the country's leadership found the experiment unprofitable, and tea production in these regions it was suspended, and did not have time to start.

The main tea regions were Georgia, Azerbaijan and Krasnodar region... By 1980, tea began to be harvested in Georgia using technology. No machine can compare to picking tea by hand. The collection began to be carried out in the rain. Quality of Georgian tea fell sharply. People began to literally sweep off the shelves. ceylon and indian tea.

By the 80th year good tea became a scarce product. Tea remained in the public domain very Bad quality... This included tea brought to the USSR from Turkey.

In the Soviet Union, they drank mainly Black tea... The most elite teas were called "Bouquet" (a bouquet of Georgia, for example). The next step was occupied by Extra tea. It included tea buds. In terms of quality and aroma, it was slightly inferior to Bouquet. Further, the grades were arranged as follows: the highest, first and second grade. The second grade was of poor quality.

Azerbaijani tea was rather fine.

Krasnodar tea was distinguished by a wonderful aroma and sweetish taste. But it was problematic to preserve these properties. Packaging and delivery destroyed the quality of the tea.

Green tea in the USSR was only its own. Supplies from abroad were out of the question. O as green tea judged by the numbers. Sorts number 125 and 111 were considered elite.

Brick tea was very popular. These are compressed tea leaves in the shape of a brick.

There were varieties of tea from a mixture of Indian and Georgian tea. They wore numbers 20 and 36.

Tea drinking in the USSR

In Soviet Union drank tea just like in pre-revolutionary Russia. That is, with sweets, jam, cookies and gingerbread. They added cream and milk to it.

It is interesting:

Residents of foreign countries have a firm conviction that in the USSR they drank tea only with lemon.

Tea was the end of the meal. Many loved to drink tea with pieces of refined sugar. And to this day, when they say: "Buy something for tea," they mean sweets.

The October Revolution, one way or another, made everyone more and less equal. That's why tea tableware was almost the same in all families. Porcelain services were used only by representatives of those in power.

In public canteens tea poured into glass glasses.

It is interesting

On the trains, the conductors brought tea in glasses with cup holders and lumps of sugar packed in miniature 4 pieces per package.

Tea was boiled in electric samovars and teapots. Whistling tea was considered a special rarity.

Despite the fact that those distant times have long since sunk into oblivion, we still remember them with warmth. Many families still keep electric samovars, which the owners sometimes take out, put in the middle of the table and have tea like their distant ancestors.

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Georgian tea has more than 170 years of history. The climatic conditions here are perfect for growing tea. Western Georgia, where tea grows, is an isolated ecosystem surrounded by mountains and located in close proximity to the warm Black Sea. Clean mountain rivers enrich the soil with minerals and therefore tea plantations in Georgia do not require irrigation. Covering the tea bushes with snow makes the tea bushes resistant to disease and therefore the plant does not need chemical fertilization.

The first tea bushes appeared in Georgia in 1847. The founder of tea production in Georgia is considered to be the Chinese tea master Lau Zhang Zhau. It was with his participation that in 1900 Georgian tea was awarded a gold medal at an exhibition in Paris.

After the establishment of Soviet power, the tea industry in Georgia developed intensively. The largest scientific and material-technical base was created, new frost-resistant varieties of tea began to be cultivated. In Soviet times, Russia, which included Georgia, was one of the leading tea-producing countries in the world. To increase the volume of tea production, manual picking of tea leaves was replaced by machine picking. As a result, the technology of tea production was violated, and its quality dropped dramatically.

Intensive development of tea production in Georgia took place up to the 80s of the last century. With the collapse of the USSR, tea plantations in Georgia were abandoned, and tea-making technologies were lost.

In 2006, after a long stagnation of the tea business in Georgia, businessman Shota Bitadze decided to revive tea plantations and restore the production of high-quality Georgian tea. He studied tea business in several provinces of China and established contacts with colleagues from other producing countries.

After returning to Georgia, Shota Bitadze with a group of like-minded people begins to restore tea plantations. The technology for the production of high-quality environmentally friendly tea has been actively introduced.

At this time, the "Association of Organic Tea Producers of Georgia" was created, which unites private farms in Georgia, producing tea according to the high standards developed by the association.

What is the peculiarity of Georgian tea?

The traditional Chinese way of growing tea involves the use of seedlings for propagation. The sprouts grown from the seeds were removed. Thus, monoplantations of certain types of tea were created.

In Soviet times, the production technology involved planting tea seeds directly in open ground... In the process of growth, tea plants were crossed. As a result, plantations were obtained with heterogeneous tea plants that were different from the mother bushes. Thus, wild natural selection of the tea plant took place in Georgia. And, as a result, we have on the one hand - accustomed to environmental conditions, genetically stable, healthy plant. And on the other hand - originally cultivated, but feral tea plants of various varieties.

In our store, you can. Our tea has a rich aroma and tart taste... Tea leaves from different regions of Georgia have a pronounced distinctive taste. And we have the ability to produce various types of Georgian tea, depending on the location and the use of a certain technology.

At present, the Bitadze Tea Exclusive brand tea of ​​the Georgian Association of Organic Tea Producers is a guarantee of high quality. All our teas are certified organically grown and produced.

As well as green, white and herbal teas. Our teas contain only natural additives. In addition, you can buy unique mountain tea from wild trees from us! Remember, all our teas are organic! It is grown in ecologically clean regions without the use of chemical fertilizers!

In 1854, during the Crimean War, a British warship was wrecked near the city of Poti. The crew was taken prisoner, but according to the noble customs of those times, the officers were accommodated in the houses of the local nobility - more as guests than as prisoners.

One of them, the Scotsman Jacob McNamarra, fell in love with the daughter of Prince Eristavi, who had shown him hospitality: the fifteen-year-old Princess Sofiko. The girl answered him in return. Their love was so strong that Prince Eristavi could not refuse a foreigner who asked for the hand of his daughter. Only he set a condition: Sofiko will not go anywhere. The Scotsman wants to be with her - let him give up his homeland ... Jacob McNamarra stayed in Georgia.

But he could not live without tea and therefore had to spend a fortune on the delivery of this precious drink. It was then that he decided to try to plant his own tea plantation. Prince Eristavi supported his son-in-law.

Jacob ordered tea seeds not from dealers, but from his old friends from the British navy. He had to wait a long time, but in the end the living seeds, not spoiled by the greedy Chinese, ended up in his hands, were planted in the fertile Georgian land in the region of Ozurgeti, and sprouted.

Already in 1864, the first samples of "Caucasian tea" were demonstrated at an industrial exhibition in St. Petersburg.

From the book by Mikhail Davitashvili "Our Georgian Tea" ...

“In the morning there was a commotion in the estate of the Georgian prince Mikha Eristavi in ​​the village of Gora-Berezhouli: the owner was leaving on a long journey to St. Petersburg. As soon as dawn broke, a train-drawn carriage was brought to the house. Servants began to carry and tie the chests.

In the sixties of the last century, the trip of a Transcaucasian resident to Russia was a great event for him and the whole family. But it had a very special meaning for the prince himself. He had to pass a serious test. He was bringing to the capital the fruits of his many years of work - the first samples of Georgian tea.

The whole family took a lot of trouble to make this tea. Since the time when Mikha Eristavi laid the first tea plantation in Georgia, he made all household members ardent adherents of tea growing. When the peasant girls began to collect shoots from the bushes, the prince's house turned into a tea factory ...

Eristavi had a Georgian-translated instruction on how to process tea leaves. Trying not to deviate from the precious document, the wife, sons and daughters of the prince, led by him, performed mysterious manipulations, withering, rolling and drying tea leaves. The tea, according to the estimates of the household, turned out to be excellent ... Everyone was jubilant.

Eristavi intended to create a large subtropical economy, but his own funds were not enough for this. In 1860, he asked the tsarist government for a loan of 20 thousand rubles. The answer was given four years later, when his plantation had already brought the harvest and samples of dry tea were made, and read: "Refuse." The Kutaisi civil governor, in a report on this issue, profoundly stated that "the development of tea trees" in Georgia is "an unfeasible business"; which, perhaps, only in greenhouses, "under artificial conditions" ... etc.

And here is Eristavi in ​​St. Petersburg. He is holding material evidence that it is possible to produce tea in Georgia. In 1864, thanks to the efforts of an enthusiast, the first domestic tea appeared at the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition in St. Petersburg. But praise, praise, help ... Mikha Eristavi returned to his estate empty-handed. In the same year, he made another attempt to attract the attention of the government to his work. At the end of the year, he presented tea samples from the harvests of 1862, 1863 and 1864 to the Caucasian Society of Agriculture. Expertise approved tea from 1863. But the Caucasian society did not live up to Eristavi's hopes. As Georgy Tsereteli noted in those years, it "was cut off from the life of the country, the members of the society were not engaged in serving the common interests, but in their personal affairs."

To be fair, it must be added that these first samples of Georgian tea were imperfect; But the essence of the matter is that neither our first tea grower, nor the Caucasian society itself received any support from the tsarist government. In 1870, Eristavi died, and for fifteen years the experiments on tea production practically stopped. They were renewed in 1885 by the great Russian chemist A.M.Butlerov. From the leaves of the tea bushes of the Sukhum Botanical Garden, he made quite good tea. He also had his own section of tea between Sukhumi and Novy Afon. But Butlerov also died before he could complete these experiments.

However, the idea of ​​domestic tea growing did not die out, it was promoted at various times by Russian scientists: Dokuchaev, Voeikov, Krasnov, Williams, it was picked up by the Georgian public. Prominent public figure Niko Nikoladze, writer and publicist Georgy Tsereteli and many others ardently advocated the development of tea culture. Nikoladze planted tea seedlings in the Poti garden and in his native village Didi-Jikhaishi. Prominent writer and public figure Ilya Chavchavadze wrote in the newspaper Iveria in 1887: “Transcaucasia, thanks to its rich climate and soil, can produce almost everything that grows on earth and provides benefits. Our region has grown so successfully even a cinchona tree and a tea bush that now the government itself is trying to flourish and spread both one and the other culture. "

Tea plantations are located near Chakvi, Ozurgetti, Kabuletti

The tsarist government "tried to prosper and spread" tea more than moderately. More than once, high authorities in the rank of minister or governor refused to allocate land plots for tea plantations to individuals and communities, and the business that had been started collapsed, the initiative was extinguished. When the Caucasian Society of Agriculture asked for permission to send its trainee with an expedition to tea countries, an official of the Ministry of State Property refused, presenting a "full-fledged" reason: "a trainee can die there ..." Tea traders were also enemies of domestic tea, raking in huge profits. There were cases when, on the initiative of Russian scientists in China, Japan and India, tea seeds and seedlings were purchased, delivered to Georgia, planted in the ground, but did not give good shoots, normal bushes; checks revealed that they were deliberately tampered with. Most often, the seeds lost their germination over a long journey, sometimes they were sown in unsuitable soils; young bushes perished from frost or inept care.

And yet, time took its toll. Tea, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some landowners, wealthy people, and sometimes peasants (rarely local residents, more often settlers) began to breed tea.

It took a lot of years and efforts of many people for a highly organized tea economy to be created in Georgia in the first half of the 20th century, and tea received the deserved right of industrial culture, i.e. tea growing has become the pride of the country's agriculture. Through the efforts of many enthusiasts, work continued on the selection, cultivation and processing of tea, and by the beginning of the 20th century, tea was already being harvested on the territory of Georgia, several tea factories were operating. The varieties “Bogatyr”, “Kara-Dere”, “Zedoban”, “Ozurgetsky” produced before the revolution were of very high quality. One of the best was considered "Russian tea Dyadyushkin" - black tea with tips (tea buds) up to 5.5%. This variety received a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exhibition.

1917 ... The young Soviet republic, having lost ties with many traditional exporters of tea, and faced with the threat of being left without a product of prime necessity, urgently took steps to develop tea growing in Georgia, and then in Azerbaijan and the Krasnodar Territory.

The success in growing tea in the Georgian SSR was impressive. State policy and support for state farms allowed The Soviet Union already in the years of the first five-year plans to abandon the import of tea seeds and significantly reduce the import of tea from abroad. Tea growing has become the pride of socialist agriculture in Georgia, its leading industry. The All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Tea and Subtropical Crops and the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of the Tea Industry worked in Georgia. The Georgian Agricultural Institute and a number of other scientific institutions also dealt with "tea issues".

In 1948, Ksenia Bakhtadze, for the first time in the world, bred artificial tea hybrids: varieties "Georgian No. 1" and "Georgian No. 2". Subsequently, the breeding work continued, high-quality varieties of tea were bred, while possessing a unique vitality. For example, the hybrid "Georgian breeding No. 8" withstood winter temperatures down to -25 ° C.

A tea-packing factory on a tea plantation near Batumi, approx. 1909-1915

However, manual collection of varietal tea leaves is very hard work. Picker to collect daily rate(15 kg of a leaf), had to make about 36 thousand tears of the flushes that came up with my fingers (usually three leaves with buds or 4-5-leafed).

Therefore, there was an urgent need to create and implement complex mechanization in tea growing as soon as possible. Therefore, there was an urgent need to create and implement complex mechanization in tea growing as soon as possible.

But only after the end of the Second World War in Georgia was created the first in the world practice of agricultural engineering, comb-pneumatic tea-collecting machine for selective collection of high-quality tea leaves "Sakartvelo", put into production in 1962. The achievements of the tea industry convincingly prove that in the last century tea has become an integral part of the Georgian economy. Moreover, by the end of the 70s, Georgia was on one of the first places among the main producers for the production of black long tea and slab tea (naturally, after India, China and Sri Lanka).

Tea harvesting machines "Sakartvelo" on the plantation of the Ingirsky state farm.

By the end of the 1970s, 95 thousand tons of ready-made tea were produced in Georgia per year. Georgian tea was exported to Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, South Yemen, Mongolia. Black was produced in Georgia long tea, green leaf, tiled, brick. Black tea was consumed by the European republics of the USSR and European countries, green tea was consumed by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the countries of Central Asia.

Set "Soviet tea assorted" 1939.

"Amateur with a flower". Top grade. NARKOMPISHCHEPROM.
First grade. Tea-packing factory them. Lenin. MOSSORSOVNARKHOZ.
First grade. Tea-packing factory them. Mikoyan, Odessa. MPPT USSR. GOST 1938-46

Recession. In the 1970s, along with the growth in the production of Georgian tea, a progressive decline in its quality was noted. The transition from manual to mechanical picking of tea leaves led to a sharp deterioration in the quality of raw materials. The race to performance has led to widespread technology disruption, from allowing tea picking in wet weather to speeding up tea leaf processing by eliminating the mandatory drying step. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia, due to the low quality of Georgian tea, reoriented itself to the supply of imported varieties. Georgian tea production was practically abandoned and, despite the emergence of firms producing competitive products, has not yet regained its former positions.

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. International statistics noted that in 1993, production practically stopped altogether. The war, especially in Abkhazia, severed economic ties and created chaos in production.
Today Georgian tea production is in deep decline. The total area of ​​tea plantations is 50 thousand hectares.
Hundreds of thousands of specialists from tea farms and factories, machine operators, tea pickers were left without work. Many women were forced to look for work in the tea plantations of Turkey. And tea plantations in Georgia ... a tea bush in free development grows into tea tree and loses its main purpose - to provide industrial tea leaves. Moreover, the restoration of a badly neglected plantation is an expensive manual labor. Therefore, the irrecoverable loss of tea plantations and, accordingly, Georgian tea cannot be allowed in any way. After all, this is the property of the country, accumulated at the cost of the labor of hundreds of thousands of people.

By the way, it is interesting that the son of Jacob and Sofiko, Nikolai Yakovlevich Marra (“Jacob” is translated as “Yakov” in Russian, and the surname was shortened and simplified) became an outstanding linguist, collector of Caucasian folklore, academician and vice-president of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Soon Georgian tea will be 160 years old. I want to wish him the restoration of his former glory!

In the period 1917-1923, Soviet Russia experienced 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 "Tsentrochai" 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 went to Asia. 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 never realized. 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, and 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 flavor”. 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 tea top grade


• 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 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.

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, in the middle zone and in the north of the country, appeared on sale green tea, which was practically not imported to these regions earlier. 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 decline 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