Russian Tea Drinking

The one drink Russians cannot live without is TEA! Drinking tea is a way of life for all Russians almost as a religion and most likely is a way of life for your future bride. So, unless you are a tea drinker, yourself, why not get acquainted with wonderful drink that is so much a part of Russian life.

Russian Tea

No Russian party can be without tea and if you plan to go to Russia you will eventually be part of this tea party.

So what do you need to know about the tea?

There are many types of teas: instant tea, herbal tea, tea bags and bulk tea. Russians prefer bulk tea made from the natural tea bush.

Russian tea has to be hot.

American iced tea seems absurd to Russian. It would be to them like boiling ice cream for desert.

The Russian process of tea-making is a two stage affair.

First, you make a syrup known in Russian as “zavarka” – a tea concentrate. You place this syrup in a cup and add boiling water (“kipyatok” in Russian).

Real Russian tea is never made using tea bags. Zavarka is what matters. Only zavarka makes the special flavor of real tea.

Russian Tea Party

Some russians are purists and drink tea straight but most Russians like to add a variety of things to their tea drinking.

The most common is sugar and then lemon. Some claim that tea with lemon is healthy, because of its high C vitamin content.

Other things Russians like to add to their tea are:
-milk,
-honey-very healthy and very Russian
-and fruit jam. Some Russians prefer to put fruit jam into the tea. Others eat it separately.

Zavarka is usually prepared in a teapot (“chainik” in Russian) made of some sort of ceramic or glass. The water is boiled in a device called a “samovar”.

Although everybody use a fairly modern (electric) samovar nowadays, I think it will be interesting for you to know how an old time samovar was working.

These older versions had a pipe through the center where coals or wood, were actually burned to heat the water. The lower unit is an urn like unit where the water is boiled, with a tap to pour out the brewed water.

A teapot rests on top using heat generated from the lower unit to create strong infusions. These strong infusions, zavarka, are then diluted with hot water from the lower unit to suit personal tastes.

Podstakannik

Many foreigners think that such a thing as a podstakannik is still very popular in Russia, but they are wrong. Most Russians don’t use it anymore. The podstakannik is basically a metallic holder with a handle for handleless glasses.

Aside from protecting your hands from the heat and alleviating the burden of dish-washing, podstakanniks contribute a great deal of stability to the glass.

Therefore, Russian railroads serve the tea in glasses with podstakanniks, and if you going to travel on train in Russia you will see these podstakanniks for sure!

Ok, now you know a little bit more about the Russian habit of tea drinking. I want you to know that one of the first things that you should go looking for your Russian wife when she arrive to be with you is a samovar or tea pot and nice loose tea.