Uzbekistan – A Country of Green Tea  

Uzbekistan is a double-landlocked country located in Central Asia. It is the most populated country in this region, with 37.5 million residents who share a special tea culture, a centuries-old tradition originating from the time of the ancient Silk Road.

Tea is a way of life here. Guests are greeted and seen off with tea. Happy events are celebrated with tea. Sad events find comfort in tea. Problems are solved over tea. A leisurely conversation is incomplete without tea. It is also an integral part of every meal in Uzbekistan. 

Green tea (kuk-choy) is the main drink in Uzbek tea culture. This tea is very healthy. It is believed to give energy, reduce stress levels in the body, stimulate digestion, stimulate brain function, and lower blood pressure. The Uzbek diet contains quite a lot of fat, and drinking green tea helps with digestion. Unsurprisingly, it commands a much larger market share (70%) in the Republic of Uzbekistan than black tea.

Almost in all settlements and cities of Uzbekistan, people drink only kuk-choy. Only in Tashkent do residents prefer black tea or kora choy. By the way, the famous “Tashkent” tea, which is offered in many Uzbek establishments in other countries, is not Tashkent tea at all but a mixture of black and green teas, a lot of sugar, lemon and mint (sometimes).

Every Uzbek begins and ends their day with a sip of aromatic tea. Hot and aromatic in the morning for breakfast, after a high-calorie lunch, dinner, or when guests arrive, tea is an indispensable component of a busy day. Of course, Uzbeks cannot drink “empty” tea. Navat (crystallized sugar), nuts, dried fruits, and other treats are usually served with tea.

Often, Uzbeks prepared shirchoy in the morning – tea according to an old recipe of Asian nomads, with milk, salt, and spices. It was very high in calories and sometimes replaced a full breakfast. At present, shirchoy is prepared on special occasions: in the cold season or during family holidays and celebrations.

Tea drinking is the basis of Uzbek hospitality. Every self-respecting Uzbek greets his guest with fresh bread and a bowl of aromatic hot tea. An invitation to tea in Uzbekistan means that, most likely, you are being invited to a full meal. When you visit an Uzbek family, don’t be surprised to see them pour very little tea into your bowl. This is a sign of special respect for the guest. Tea is poured into the bowl little by little, literally for 1-2 sips. The more often the host pours tea into the guest’s cup, the more precious the guest is to him. And if you come at the wrong time or for some urgent business, and you are not very welcome (which is extremely rare), the host of the house makes this clear to the guest by pouring a full cup of tea. The expression “tea without respect” implies that the guest was poured a full bowl. When the hostess or daughter-in-law serves you a bowl of hot tea, you may notice that her right hand is in the area of the heart. This is also a demonstration of special respect.

Today, ancient tea-drinking traditions have not been lost in Uzbekistan. Older people prefer green tea. They say it quenches thirst better and does not raise blood pressure. Young people are experimenting with new types of tea, brewed according to various recipes with the addition of fruits and spices. While tea is usually drunk without sugar very often, various aromatic herbs and spices are added to it.

Most of all, green tea is loved in the country, and it was previously brewed in beautiful copper jugs or kumgans, which were initially used for washing hands and then became suitable for brewing tea. The method of brewing Uzbek tea is also special. It is believed that it is best to pour boiling water over tea leaves in several stages, with a pause between each. But this method is not used everywhere. What is more common everywhere is “kaitar-maitar”, which comes from the Uzbek “kaitmok”, which means “to return”.

Tea from the teapot is poured into a bowl (a cup without handles) and then poured back into the teapot. This procedure is repeated three times. The tea is then poured into a clean bowl. In Uzbek restaurants, you can often see staff carrying an extra bowl to the table. Firstly, this way the tea turns out richer, and a clean cup in which tea is poured for the guest is a sign of deep respect and purity of relations. “Kaitar-maitar” improves the taste of tea leaves, making the taste deeper.

Chaikhana

There are also special teahouses called Chaikhanas (which translates as tea room in Uzbek), which are considered to be the original restaurants and are virtually an institution in Uzbekistan. Here, men will gather throughout the day, discussing current affairs and whatever else over endless cups – or as it is called, “pialas” here – of tea. Uzbek Chaikhanas also serve dishes of cuisine.

The most common dishes in Uzbek tea houses are Uzbek pilaf (made with rice), samsa (triangular pastry with a filling), soups such as shurpa (lamb and vegetable soup), lagman and mastava, dumplings like chuchvara and manti, meat dishes such as shashlik, kavurdak and kazan-kebab, and a stew, dymlyama. In addition to green or black tea, Uzbek teahouses may also serve cold beverages such as chalop (cold soup) or ayran (made from yoghurt, water and salt). Among the appetizers, the achichuk salad (aichichuk or achchik-chuchuk) made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onions with hot pepper and salt is very popular, as well as milk-based katyk and suzma (chakka). Among the sweets, they will serve various halvas, parvarda (caramel), navvat (made with sugar and grape juice), nisholda (a thick dessert made with whipped egg whites), sumalak (considered the national dish, a porridge made with sprouted wheat grains), and halvaytar.

Teahouses are widespread throughout Uzbekistan. Each mahalla (a residential quarter of a city) has its teahouse which also serves as the community centre. In most cases, the teahouse is adjacent to the mahalla mosque and the mahalla committee. In addition to mahallas, larger teahouses are located in various parts of cities and villages along intercity highways. Teahouses are especially popular in the regions of the Fergana Valley, as well as in the Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khorezm, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, Navoi, Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions.

Tea Trade

Tea culture in Uzbekistan originated in the 19th century when skilled traders from China brought the first collection of decoctions and various herbs. Fast-forward to September 2021, when the first tea train arrived in Uzbekistan from a Chinese tea production base to deliver 570 tons of green tea from Huangshan, Anhui province, to the capital, having covered more than 5,500 km in a little over ten days.

After a long search to line up financing, officials from China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan signed an investment agreement in Dec 2024 to build a railway that could reduce costs and cut transit times for Westward-bound freight rail traffic. This rail route can boost the tea trade between China and Uzbekistan. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad, 486 kilometers long, will connect the following points: Kashgar (China) – Torugart (at the border crossing in China) – Makmal (Kyrgystan) -JalalAbad (Kyrgystan) – Andijan (Uzbekistan)

For a green tea-loving country, there is no better news.