Russian tea is not a variety or type of raw material. This is history, tradition, heritage and unwritten law. Russia has been drinking tea since the 17th century. Since the 17th century, Russians cannot imagine a day without a cup of aromatic and healthy drink. Dispel the blues, meet dear guests, spend the evening having a heartfelt conversation - tea is an invariable companion of happiness and joy, of all holidays and important events.

Russian tea: centuries-old traditions of tea drinking

A drink widespread throughout the world - tea - began the history of the conquest of Russian open spaces back in the seventeenth century. The popular version about the role of the great innovator of Russian traditions, Peter the Great, in introducing Russians to the aromatic drink has been refuted by some historians. There is a version that tea actually appeared thanks to the Cossack chieftains Ivan Petrov and Burnash Yalyshev at the end of the sixteenth century.

The documented version says that tea appeared in Rus' in the 17th century. According to this version of events, the Mongols, in alliance with the Chinese, sent the Russian Emperor Mikhail Romanov a rich gift - four pounds of a fragrant drink, or rather, leaves for brewing aromatic tea. The unprecedented gift somewhat confused the cooks of the royal court. They didn’t immediately figure out what to make from the mysterious raw material – soup or porridge. Intuition, brewing instructions, or chance helped the unfortunate craftsmen, but Russia received new tradition- tea party.

And before tea there was nothing?

What did they drink in Rus' before the advent of tea? Since ancient times, the most popular drinks were fruit drinks, jelly, kvass, mead and sbiten.

Before tea appeared on Russian shelves, in the harsh winter they escaped the cold with the help of an amazing honey-based drink - sbiten. In the summer heat, they dealt with thirst with berry juice and kvass with cherry leaves.

For holidays and important joyful events they cooked honey drink with a slight degree - mead. Strength, vigor and health were gained with the help of jelly.

With the advent of tea in Russia, a new era began and new traditions arose.

Chinese tea, sugar - the owner's

The innovation had a surprising impact even on the economic situation in the country. The drink became more and more popular, and the attributes of the Russian ceremony - samovars, glass holders, teapots, and unique porcelain - began to be in great demand. The samovar industry began to grow, bringing profit to producers and joy to lovers of aromatic tea.

Interesting. By the end of the 19th century, in Tula, a recognized center for the production of samovars, there were about 30 factories that produced up to 120 thousand samovars per year.

Despite the high cost and serious competitors in the form traditional drinks, tea in Rus' has firmly taken its place at the table. In the middle of the 17th century, an agreement was concluded with the Celestial Empire on regular supplies of a drink, albeit expensive, but beneficial for the soul and body.

Having discovered tea, Russians began to import it not only from China, but also from India and Ceylon. Gourmets have appeared who can easily distinguish one or another type of their favorite drink. The most popular in Russia were “Pearl Selected”, preferred by merchants for soulful feasts, “Imperial Lansing”, “Yunfacho with Flowers”, rare and fabulously expensive white variety"Silver needles"

Ancient underground workers, or Chinese tea of ​​Russian origin

The fashion for lavish tea feasts has provoked not only the demand for valuable Indian or Chinese raw materials. A wave of tea love spurred the Russian inventor to mass produce analogues of the popular drink. Leaves of trees (birch, oak, ash were used), herbal and fruit mixtures were transformed with the help of dyes into an exquisite and noble langsin.

Interesting. The first high-profile trial of tea counterfeiting took place at the end of the 19th century. Traders Popovs were brought in as defendants. They were found guilty and sentenced to hard labor and exile.

Folk art of this direction was severely punished by the authorities. But the inaccessibility of real tea for most residents of the country forced them to look for analogues and substitutes for the noble drink.

Interesting. IN Soviet time The fight against tea counterfeiters continued, several show trials were held, and the perpetrators were punished as malicious pests. In the 30s of the twentieth century, tea counterfeits disappeared from the country, and articles from the criminal code were removed as an anachronism.

The main source of joy is abundance

In many countries, tea is at the forefront of the tea ceremony. The Russian tea tradition is also a table rich in dishes. Russian tea party Sweets and savories, pastries and preserves were always included. Everything that the house was rich in was served to the table. Tea drinking in Rus' turned into full lunch or dinner.

Interesting. The tradition of brewing strong tea leaves directly in a cup originated at the end of the 19th century. Before this, they poured from a teapot ready drink. The brewing procedure had to be repeated several times. To avoid the hassle of repeated brewing, tea began to be brewed in large teapot and very strong. It was diluted with boiling water in a cup.

As soon as guests appeared on the doorstep, the owners seated them at the table, treated them to goodies, gave them tea and learned all the news. At the tea table, time flew by, and during an intimate conversation, up to ten glasses of a strong and aromatic drink were easily drunk.

Traditions of Russian tea drinking: the host of the table is the samovar

It’s hard to imagine traditional Russian tea drinking without a pot-bellied, shiny samovar. Always thoroughly cleaned, it served as proof of the family's wealth. Brought from Holland by Peter the Great, this attribute of the tea ceremony became Russified over time and began to seem originally Russian.

Masters made real works of art from samovars. Those from Tula were especially valued. Pot-bellied barrels were decorated with carvings and drawings. The samovar was placed on ornate legs. We came up with a special place for the teapot - a stand on top. This allowed the brew to always be warm, releasing maximum nutrients.

Purely Russian flavor

Speaking about the tradition of Russian tea drinking, one cannot ignore the saucer. If in civilized Europe it serves as a stand for a cup, then in dense Russia the role of this thing is much more complicated.

In Rus' it is customary to drink tea from a saucer. Although this habit was considered vulgar in the upper strata of society, peasants, artisans, landowners and merchants enjoyed drinking tea with pleasure, sipping tea from a saucer. The tradition took root firmly and made the ceremony so colorful and vibrant that writers, artists and poets have repeatedly reflected this feature of Russian tea drinking in their works. In the canvases of Bogdanov-Belsky, Kustodiev and others, both the peasant class and rich merchants equally deftly sip tea from a saucer.

Interesting. Tea drinking in Rus' is an ornate ceremony. After the first cup, the guest must refuse the next one. And only after an urgent (and even repeated) request from the hostess to continue the meal.

A glass holder is a special feature of Russian tea drinking. With the invention of glass and blowing, the glass firmly established itself in Russian cuisine, becoming a fashionable accessory for some time. For convenience, he was dressed first in a wooden one, and then, with the inherent Russian passion for everything beautiful, in a silver uniform - a cup holder.

The Russian tea tradition dates back several centuries. During this time, rulers and regimes changed, wars were fought and truces were concluded, the country expanded or lost lands, but one thing remained unchanged - the Russian tea party.

Chapter:
TEA AND TEA CEREMONY
12th page of the section

NATIONAL TEA CEREMONY. Part 2

RUSSIAN TEA RITUAL

Russia has a centuries-old tradition of drinking tea, as well as national characteristics character and harsh climate contributed to the formation of a completely original tea etiquette, different from both the eastern ceremonies, so to speak, of the ancestral countries, and from the countries Western Europe. Tea in Russia for a long time remained a city drink, the center of trade and the “trendsetter” in the tea ritual was Moscow.

At first they drank tea at home, in families, but 19th century Truly Russian establishments appeared that had nothing similar abroad - tea houses. Each teahouse had three rooms. In one room there was a kitchen, the other was a kind of notary office, where clerks compiled various complaints and petitions. And only the third room was intended for tea drinking.

Large samovars with boiling water and teapots with tea leaves were served at communal tables (and in teahouses there were only communal tables). Milk, cream, bagels, and crushed sugar were offered for tea - the custom of drinking tea with sugar as a bite came from Siberia. Sometimes the owners had billiards and a gramophone to entertain visitors. A leisurely, cordial conversation took place under the quiet noise of a boiling samovar.

A.I. perfectly described the Moscow tea party in the 19th century. Vyurkov: “Muscovites drank tea in the morning, at noon, and always at four o’clock. At this time in Moscow, samovars were boiling in every house, teahouses and taverns were full, and life stood still. They drank it in the evening, they drank it when they were sad, they drank it because they had nothing to do, and they drank it “just because.” They drank with milk, with lemon, with jam, and most importantly - with pleasure.”

Tea drinking was carried out on a special scale in merchant houses: merchants sat at tea tables for hours and sometimes drank twenty cups. If, after drinking ten cups, they put the cup aside, this did not mean that the tea party was over. But when the cup (or glass) was turned upside down and the remaining sugar was placed on it, it became clear that the tea was finished.

By the end of the 19th century, tea began to be drunk from tall glasses with silver coasters, thus enjoying not only the taste and aroma, but also the color.

This is how the method of brewing tea is described in one of the old cookbooks: “Tea for four people. Place 1 teaspoon of tea in a teapot, add boiling water and, cover with a towel or place on the samovar, let it brew. After 15 minutes, when the tea has steeped, it is poured into cups, adding clean boiling water.” Tea was served on a table laden with sweets: crackers, pretzels, bagels, small cookies, pies, and pastries. In addition, milk, cream, lemon, and jam were offered.

Tea drinking with a samovar is an amazing and extremely rare event nowadays, since the samovar, as an element of everyday life, has completely disappeared from our lives.

But if you want to get amazing and incomparable sensations - get it!

They used to do this. A small fire was lit to produce coals. Then these coals were transferred from the fire to the samovar on a small special metal scoop. After this, the samovar burner was filled with wood chips or cones to the very top.

After clogging the burner, a pipe was put on the samovar and the coals began to blow. You can inflate it with your mouth or with your boot, like in the movies. The water has not been poured in yet - just a little so that nothing melts.

Water was poured into the melted samovar. Then everything is as usual. By the way, samovar tea must be drunk from a saucer - it’s a tradition. The type of tea can be any, but previously Georgian, Azerbaijani, and Indian were used.

How tea used to be served
Rules still useful today

. In Rus' there is a rule: tea should be like a kiss - hot, strong, sweet.

Previously, the treats at the tea table were modest. In the morning they served porridge and sometimes soft-boiled eggs. The children happily ate a bun soaked in boiling water and sprinkled with sugar. In the morning and evening there were bagels on the table. Drying was no less popular. It is difficult to imagine the tea table of that time without lush rolls.

Milk or cream was always served with tea. They drank it with jam or as a snack with a piece of crushed sugar. On Sundays and for tea parties, pies were baked, and it was customary to make sandwiches, serve, etc. In all houses they loved to drink tea with.

Nowadays, such popular delicacies as toffee are almost forgotten. Tea with them was considered daytime, but they usually drank it after lunch, around 5 pm (as in England).

The leading role at the tea table was given to the mistress of the house or the eldest daughter. They poured tea and directed the conversation. Cups stood near them, and as guests arrived, who were allowed to appear at any time, they poured tea - always through a strainer. If someone asked for more tea, the cup was rinsed and refilled. For this purpose there was a rinse bottle on the table. Tea utensils were not brought into the kitchen. They immediately washed it, wiped it dry and put it in the cupboard.

Tea towels were a special pride in every home. They were embroidered by the mistress of the house, daughter or daughter-in-law. The patterns were passed down from generation to generation, especially in rural areas.

Evening tea in the family was usually quite modest. They were served on the table, White bread, jam, gingerbread and cookies.

Tea was served to men in glasses with coasters, and to women in cups. In very large, poor families, where it was not possible to buy porcelain dishes, they used cheap glasses that were placed on glass saucers.

Spoons appeared in Russia a very long time ago. Teaspoons spread at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th centuries. They were made from various metals. Rich families used silver spoons, sometimes they were finished with enamel. Poor families were content with tin, bone or alloy spoons. Teaspoons had different shape, often intricate, but their volume was, as now, almost the same - 4-5 ml.

Morning tea

The morning mood largely determines the day. Getting up early is one of the important conditions mental self-regulation and healthy lifestyle. That's why morning tea in a family it is quite significant for each person. Try to make sure that the tea table is at least on weekends and holidays the whole family sat down.

How to set the table for morning tea? Daily morning tea is drunk in modest surroundings with minimum quantity dishes and cutlery. The table can be covered with a beautiful oilcloth or a washable tablecloth, and if its surface is polished and is not afraid of moisture, it is better to put napkins for each family member and place the dishes on them.

When setting the table, everyone is given a cup or glass with a glass holder, a teaspoon, a fork and a knife. Place a butter dish and a sugar bowl in the center. Depending on the prepared food, plates of fruits, and dried fruits can be served. Paper napkins are required on the table.

Tea party

Does this phrase seem strange to you? A dinner party surprises no one. But they also once invited me to tea!

Having tea at home and inviting guests is not bad at all. This idea should be approached seriously and meaningfully, and you should think about who exactly and how many people to invite. It depends on the specific circumstances and issues that need to be discussed, or the free time that you plan to spend interestingly. According to classical canons, tea drinking should be held between lunch and dinner. And this has its advantages. The main purpose of a tea party is pleasant communication, interesting conversations, and a break from everyday worries.

When welcoming guests, hosts should not forget their responsibilities. It’s good if most of the invitees know each other. The topic of conversation should be relevant, interesting and understandable to everyone.

Flowers in low crystal, porcelain or ceramic vases look best on the tea table. If there is only one vase of flowers, it is placed in the middle of the table, if there are several of them, they are distributed evenly. Flowers are usually selected taking into account the colors of the dishes and tablecloths.

Serving tea table- special care of the owners. You can put a lot delicious dishes, but if they are poorly designed, the effect of the treat will be lost. The set of items for tea is relatively small, as with morning breakfast. Individual cutlery is placed behind the plate: fork, knife, spoon. All cups should be near the hostess. When the guests sit down at the table, she pours tea and passes the cups. Next to the samovar or kettle there should be a teapot with tea leaves, a strainer and a rinse basin.

You will need a little utensils and common items: a bread dish or bread box covered with a napkin, a butter dish or plate for butter, a sugar bowl, a milk jug, a lemon bowl or saucer, a fruit bowl, a plate or vase for cookies, . If it is planned to treat guests with sandwiches, or any kind of food, additional dishes are provided. It is better to serve sweets, dried fruits and raisins in crystal, cupronickel or silver candy bowls.

Counterparts over a cup of tea

A conversation at the tea table can be business or intimate. Accordingly, the table setting will be different. During a business conversation, the table is set strictly, using a minimum of decoration. Cups of tea and small refreshments can be brought on a tray along with shared utensils. Salty or small cookies are very suitable for this tea. The atmosphere should not relax the interlocutors; it requires composure, a clear rhythm and tempo.

The situation is completely different during a personal meeting. It can be emotionally intense, not very consistent, last indefinitely, with thoughts and questions that are sometimes not so easy to find an answer to. Such a conversation may have a changing pace, pauses, or heated explanations. And yet, a personal conversation is always more pleasant, if not more successful, over a cup of tea.

This type of tea party requires a lot of attention to table decoration: a good tablecloth, tastefully selected flowers, beautiful dishes.

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Tea came to Russia earlier than to Europe, but later than to the East. In the 16th century, small quantities of tea were brought to Rus' in the form of expensive gifts from Asian envoys. The exact date of Chinese tea reaching the Russian Tsar is known - it is 1567. Two Cossack chieftains Petrov and Yalyshev, who visited China, tried and described this drink, and also brought a box of expensive yellow tea. In 1638, Russian ambassador Vasily Starkov brought 64 kg of tea as a gift to the Tsar from the Mongol Khan. In 1665, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was treated with tea. Over time, tea reached Siberia, and researchers of the eastern part Russian Empire discovered the widespread use of tea there. By the 17th century, tea in Russia was drunk by boyars and their associates; it was served at royal receptions and in the houses of wealthy merchants. In the 18th century, nobles and wealthy merchants were added to these categories, and by the 19th century, tea became ubiquitous.

Initially, tea came to Russia by dry route from China and neighboring countries. Later, with the opening of the Suez Canal, tea began to be supplied by sea. Our ancestors knew only green and yellow tea, drank it without sugar. Maybe that's why for a long time Women did not drink tea. The bitter taste of the drink was unusual in comparison with traditional Russian drinks (sbiten, honey), which had a sweetish taste.

The tradition of Russian tea drinking is one of the most difficult to describe. Over the past 150 years, there have been so many changes in society and way of life that it is no longer clear what is considered the main thing in the Russian tradition of drinking tea. For foreigners, the symbol of Russian tea drinking is considered to be a strange Russian samovar, previously used to prepare sbiten.

A samovar, drinking from a saucer, a glass in a silver cup holder - these are just external features available to us from the descriptions of the classics and from the paintings of famous artists of the past. It is necessary to separate the technical side of preparation from the inner, spiritual essence of drinking tea in Russian. Tea in Russia has long been a reason for long, leisurely and good-natured conversation, a way of reconciliation and resolving business issues. The main thing in Russian tea drinking (besides tea) is communication. Lots of tea, treats and pleasant company - these are the components of tea in Russian. Modern Russian feast often consists of two parts: food and alcohol, and tea with sweets. So, more often than not, it is in the tea room (and not in the alcoholic) part that conversations take place, guests indulge in pleasant memories, and interesting ideas. The hostess only has time to warm the water, but the tea is flowing like a river and running out of sweets is no obstacle to continuing it. This tradition also has practical meaning. Some time after a heavy meal, unsweetened tea helps digestion, and the guest gets up from the table refreshed and invigorated.

Technically, the brewing process exists in 3 variants. The first is the most “Russian”: water is heated in a samovar, tea is brewed in a large teapot, which is placed on the crown (upper part) of the samovar and poured into cups without adding water or sugar. In this method, sweets are eaten as a bite. What is important here is the large volume of the teapot and heating of all the dishes at each stage. Tea doesn't like coolness - it likes heat. In the second method, the samovar is replaced with a teapot, and the teapot is covered with a special tea warmer so that the heat does not escape - almost the same as in the English tradition. Tea is not diluted with water, and sweets are eaten as a snack. There is a third way, which has its roots in the poor Soviet era. The tea is brewed strong, and this brew is poured into cups, into which hot water. The same procedure is sometimes carried out using a samovar instead of a kettle.

It is customary to drink tea in Russian when you have at least half an hour of free time. It is not customary to grab a cup of tea and run further on errands. It is not customary to remain silent at the table, as is done in a Japanese or Chinese ceremony, or to stand on ceremony and perform a “tea performance,” as is done in England. Silence behind the samovar is regarded as a sign of deep disrespect for the owners of the house. For the “Russian tea ceremony” it is customary to use red (in the European classification - black) Ceylon, Indian or Chinese tea. Green ones are not suitable for this type of tea drinking.

The Russian tea tradition has its own established stereotypes, which, one way or another, influence the perception of tea by Russians themselves or guests of the country.

Stereotype one: tea and samovar. The samovar was invented for tea, and only with a samovar is real Russian tea drinking possible.

However, the samovar is far from a Russian invention. Its principle was used in Ancient Rome, where hot stones were placed in a container of water for heating. Later, the samovar came to Europe and was used to heat water. It is known that Peter the Great, among other wonders, brought from Holland a device reminiscent of a modern samovar. Later Russian craftsmen made own version device, giving it a sonorous Russian name, and from the end of the 18th century, samovars began to be made in Tula and the Urals. Thus, the samovar “Russified” and was adapted to our needs - first for preparing sbiten, and then for making water for making tea. It must be said that the widespread use of samovars began only in the 19th century.

Stereotype two: Russians drink tea from a saucer or from a glass in a cup holder. Both undoubtedly existed, but were optional. They could drink tea from a saucer in a narrow circle of friends or relatives, because in society such behavior was considered vulgar. Also, people from the merchant community liked to drink from the saucer, who did not accept the European “rules of decency”, considering them prim and far-fetched, and proposed their own rules, with which guests felt more comfortable at the table. Later, this tradition was “tried on” by the townspeople, copying different variants tea parties and mixing them together.

Stereotype three: To prepare tea, the tea is brewed and then diluted with boiling water in a cup. This custom appeared in the post-revolutionary years, when there was plenty of “lordly” tea, but few knew how to brew it correctly. In times of scarcity, tea was diluted with water to save money. This “economical” method steals true taste tea, turning aromatic drink into colored liquid for washing down sandwiches.

Stereotype four:green tea is bitter and not suitable for Russian tea drinking. It can turn out bitter in two cases - bad tea or improper brewing. Properly brewed green tea has a sweetish taste and delicate aroma. And its color is very light, greenish or yellowish, but not intense, but almost transparent. Green tea should not be infused - you should immediately start draining it as soon as you fill the teapot hot water. If the tea is still bitter, try pouring less tea or pouring out the finished drink faster.

Another stereotype is that Russian tea drinking had an orderly appearance, similar to English tea drinking. This has never happened before, and this is perhaps the greatest value of Russian tea. They drank tea as they pleased, each house had its own traditions. Unwritten laws did not fix and make Russian tea drinking dead, as happened in England.

If we talk about the established tradition of Russian tea drinking, we can highlight a certain popular image, an average “brand” of tea in Russian: a samovar, a pot-bellied teapot, porcelain cups on saucers, lump sugar and tea treats: pancakes, pies, cheesecakes, bagels and other sweet and not so “snacks”. This merchant-philistine way of drinking tea began to be considered Russian, since noble tea drinking copied it English traditions cannot be considered Russian.

It is customary to drink tea several times a day. As a rule, this is 4-6 times, and on days of fasting and in winter they drank tea more actively. An indispensable attribute of Russian hospitality is serving tea. Now this tradition has been brought to the point of automaticity and involves, in addition to tea, mandatory conversations and treats to sweets (jam, honey, pies, candies and cookies). A special “holiday” service is kept in the house for guests, which does not take part in everyday tea drinking. The same service is used in the tea part of Russian feasts. In Soviet times, a beautiful tea set was an indicator of the status of the owners. The best were considered “foreign” ones, those that were difficult to find. It was especially important to have a beautiful tea set at home as opposed to catering glasses with weak, sweet tea.

The tradition of drinking tea from glasses, incomprehensible to foreigners, dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, tea in taverns was served in glasses, because European cups and sets had not yet come into fashion. Later, glasses began to be gradually replaced by cups, but in some families it was customary to use such traditional dishes until the revolution. Porcelain cups replaced glasses almost everywhere, but in taverns they still remained: tea, as a rough masculine drink, was served in the same container as cheap alcohol, or alcohol was mixed with tea. To avoid burning your fingers, we made a cup holder. It was more like camping, railway utensils, which, no matter what favorable conditions replaced with porcelain or earthenware.

The obligatory list of items for a classic Russian holiday tea party included: a samovar or kettle for heating water, a stand or tray for the samovar, a service that consisted of a teapot, tea pairs (cups and saucers), a milk jug and a sugar bowl, tongs for refined sugar, tongs for chopping refined sugar , teapot strainer, vases for sweets. They preferred to take soft spring water for tea. The tea made with this water was aromatic and fresh. The brewing method was similar to the English one. In the Russian tradition, however, it is customary to brew tea not as strong as in England. Tea was prepared in a teapot and poured into cups without diluting with water. If milk or cream was added, it was heated and added to the cups before tea. The tradition of making strong tea leaves separately and then diluting it with water has taken root among the workers and peasants, and now for some reason it is considered the folk way. But considering that tea with this method turns out much worse than tea brewed correctly, it is better not to use it.

There is a tradition of ending the tea party. In the classic Russian version of the 18th and 19th centuries, this was a glass or cup turned upside down, placed on a saucer. Somewhat later, in the European style, they began to put a spoon in a cup. A teaspoon in an empty cup was a sign that the guest no longer wanted tea. You couldn’t blow on the tea to cool it, or clink the spoon while stirring the sugar. The rules of good manners dictated that the spoon should not touch the walls of the cup, and after stirring should not remain in the cup. Pouring tea into a saucer and drinking from it was also considered contrary to these rules. But, as you know, tea in a merchant’s way refuted all overseas rules and provided greater freedom at the tea table.

IN Tsarist Russia We drank mostly Chinese tea. Until the 19th century it was exclusively Chinese; at the end of the 19th century Ceylonese and Indian began to appear. Until the 19th century, teas from China delivered dry were very highly valued - they did not spoil on the road or become damp, although they were very expensive. This tea was valued by European gourmets, who had no access to expensive Chinese tea. They bought it in Russia for a lot of money. In the mid-19th century, China sharply reduced tea supplies to Europe, and some varieties were completely banned from export. For Russia, on the contrary, an exception was made, and our ancestors could enjoy exclusive yellow tea, unavailable to Europeans.

At the end of the 19th century, teas from India and Ceylon began to be sold in Russia, and the first harvests of tea from Georgia and Krasnodar appeared. Indian tea has always been of a lower grade and cheaper than Chinese tea. There were exceptions - alpine teas northern India or the mountainous regions of Ceylon. This tea was widely sold and enjoyed success among the unsophisticated public or in taverns. Indian tea could be brewed strongly and sparingly, and its purpose was most often to “drink and warm.” Black tea became tea for pies, tavern tea. Later, the same niche was occupied by Georgian, which was an even lower grade and was sold as part of mixtures (blends). Krasnodar tea has always stood apart from all known tea-growing areas. Breeding experiments tea bush in fairly cold conditions they were successful, and the interesting and specific taste of Krasnodar tea found its admirers. However, the labor intensity and high price of “native” tea did not allow and still does not allow it to compete with Chinese and Indian varieties.

In the 20th century Chinese tea was drunk until the 70s, until relations with China worsened. Since the 1970s they switched to Ceylonese and Indian tea, as well as Georgian and Krasnodar, which appeared 100 years ago, but were considered low-grade and were only used as a mixture with inexpensive Chinese and Indian varieties. In the 80s of the 20th century, the quality of imported tea (primarily from Georgia) in the USSR sharply deteriorated. In the 90s, high-quality Chinese tea leaked into Russia, along with knowledge about Chinese traditions, but the bulk of the tea was very Low quality. Nowadays, cheap varieties predominate in stores. Ceylon tea, the second most popular is Indian, followed by Chinese, Kenyan, Javanese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Iranian, and Krasnodar tea completes the ranking. Georgian tea completely disappeared from sale due to its poor quality.

As for expensive teas, their choice is so large that everyone has the opportunity to choose tea to their liking.

The Russian tradition of tea drinking has not been brought to the fine filigree characteristic of the detailed Japanese, or the traditionalism and inviolability that the British so valued (), however, its poetry and diversity made it unique and original. What is special about tea drinking in Russia? What does the concept of Russian tea drinking include?

Despite the fact that it began in the middle of the 17th century, the Chinese drink began to penetrate into every Russian family only from the 19th century. The love for “tea drinking” has left its mark almost everywhere, even touching architecture. Remember - you yourself have probably seen cozy verandas more than once, often decorated with wooden carvings, entwined with plants and painted in cheerful colors. Spacious southern verandas, the windows of which overlooked the garden, became an ideal place for gathering with the family around the samovar. Fragrant healthy tea with honey, milk, and sweets mixed with the tart aromas of a spring evening and was conducive to long intimate conversations and resolution, including business, of issues. To this day, such verandas have been preserved in provincial towns - symbols of the development of the Russian tradition of tea drinking.

Russian classics have repeatedly mentioned and described the tradition of tea drinking in their works. A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy appreciated and loved tea, considered it a drink not only for the body, but also for the soul.

L.N. Tolstoy wrote: “I had to drink a lot of tea, because without it I could not work. Tea releases the possibilities that lie dormant in the depths of my soul.”

Russian tea drinking is a tradition that brings together

All family members gathered at one table. In the center, on a boiling white tablecloth, stood a samovar on a tray, as if uniting the participants of the feast. Big, pot-bellied, polished, he called the household together with businesslike puffing (see) inseparable in Russian history. Until now, this device is a carefully preserved tradition, a symbol of cordiality and sincerity, an integral part of an amazing ritual.

Several tea drinking traditions in Russia are also associated with the samovar:

• A samovar crackling with coals is good;
• If the samovar whistled, the lid was opened and they began to shake it - such “trills” were considered harbingers of failure;
• The worst omen is a soldered samovar. In this case, trouble awaited;
• The guest asked that the glass not filled to the top be filled to the brim so that “life could be full.”

– this is a lot of sweets and dishes, leisurely and tasteful, measured admiration of every detail. Tea was enjoyed at home and in public places, alone and in company. In Moscow houses, there is a tradition of having tea four times, namely: in the morning, at noon, at four o’clock in the afternoon and always in the evening. About how tea was brewed, old cookbooks read: “Tea for four people: put one teaspoon of tea in a teapot, add boiling water and, cover with a towel or put on a samovar, let it brew. After 15 minutes, when the tea has steeped, it is poured into cups, adding clean boiling water.”

Just imagine, it was not the limit to drink ten or twenty cups while sitting at the table. It is curious that even if someone present at the table put down the cup, this did not mean that he had finished. However, as soon as the cup was turned upside down and the remaining sugar was placed on it, the tea party was considered over.

Table setting

The wealth of food on the table, the sophistication and almost pretentiousness of serving distinctive feature Russian tea party. The obligatory “presents” on the table were: a samovar, a teapot and a teapot, milk jugs, cream jugs, sugar bowls, vases for pastries and sweets. Preserves, jams, cheesecakes, pies, bagels, kulebyaki, gingerbread, candied fruit served as an excellent setting for the main character - tea.

Silver or white-metal alloy utensils were fashionable in rich houses of Moscow. Metal utensils were decorated with chasing. Of course, exquisite porcelain, glass and earthenware services from the Imperial Factory, Gardner and Popov factories were out of fashion. We enjoyed not only the taste and aroma, but also the color of the tea. By the end of the 19th century, they began to pour it into transparent glasses with silver coasters, which became a convenient and original “design” for the precious drink.

The whirlwind of events and stress of these days is exciting and makes you gradually forget, lose the thread of traditions and established images. Once fashionable items, without which it was difficult to imagine a home, are becoming a thing of the past. Today, tea is drunk from a cooler and bags, and not from a samovar. Buttea drinking tradition in Russia so original and bright, she unites families around her, she is a real jewel that we must treasure and carry through the years!

Tea from a samovar

Last winter we went to visit relatives in a small town, where the tallest buildings do not have more than two floors, and the majority of the population lives in ordinary private, village houses. Our relatives are the owners of a log, one might say classic, Russian dwelling with a personal yard fenced with a simple wooden fence. And in this very yard, right on the snow-packed area, one evening they personally boiled a real, big and pot-bellied, antique samovar on coals. Tastier than tea, than from that samovar, we haven’t tried yet! This is, of course, when compared with the same tea brewed in the usual way water from a kettle heated on gas stove. Possibly amateurs Chinese ceremonies They are unlikely to understand us, but perhaps, on the contrary, they will agree that there is something completely special in the Russian tradition. However, we did not fully enjoy tea in Russian, since some of all the delights of the tradition were simply not observed

Features of Russian tea drinking

In order to understand the peculiarities of Russian tea drinking, it is enough to look at the paintings of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Take, for example, the famous artist B. Kustodiev, who depicted a merchant’s wife in the garden at tea, a cab driver in a tavern, a family on the terrace and some other scenes. What do we see on them? First of all - a samovar. By the way, the samovar is not the invention of our compatriots, but the tradition itself, with all its delights (the whole complex, so to speak), of drinking tea in Russian is, of course, ours, dear.

Then we see beautiful cups and saucers, a teapot and all this on a beautiful tablecloth or tray. And also bagels, sweets and fruits. Yes, this is the Russian tradition - drinking tea with something sweet. In addition to tea paraphernalia, this ceremony was characterized by leisurely conversations - drinking tea quickly was not at all encouraged. It was while drinking tea that some important issues were resolved, friendships were established and reconciliations took place in case of quarrels. At first, tea was considered a man's drink for its tart, bitter taste, but then women also tried it. Drinking tea was always a separate procedure and was not mixed with feasts: alcohol with snacks and tea with sweets were served separately.

Russian tea was prepared as follows: they boiled water in a samovar, then brewed tea in a teapot, steeped it for a while, placing it on top of the samovar, and poured it into cups. Somewhat later, the tradition changed and the brewed tea began to be diluted with boiling water from a samovar - there is a point of view that this method began to be used in hungry, poor times out of economy.

Tea etiquette

It is interesting that in the paintings the characters often drink tea from a saucer. However, according to etiquette, such a procedure was considered possible only in the presence of loved ones and relatives, but not in society. When tea spread across Russian soil, they first drank it from glasses, and later moved on to beautiful porcelain dishes. They stirred the tea with a spoon, trying not to clink it or touch the walls of the dish.

blow on hot tea was considered bad manners. Having drunk tea, the guest turned the glass or cup on the saucer, giving an unspoken signal to the owner, and later a spoon placed in an empty cup became such a signal. However, merchants usually rejected all these overseas rules and therefore complete freedom of action reigned at their tables: if you want, pour tea into the saucer, if you want, blow on it, just enjoy the tea party and don’t disturb others

Modern Russian tea drinking is noticeably different from traditional, however, we still offer tea to our dear guests, we try not to drink tea “on the run” and have leisurely conversations during tea drinking. We also always offer tea after festive feasts and, as it turns out, not in vain - after all, a cup of freshly brewed tea promotes digestion. Have a nice tea party, dear readers!
P.S. If you have the opportunity to drink real tea in Russian (from a samovar on coals), then be sure to take advantage of it!