Green tea is the national drink of Uzbekistan. Apart from Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, green tea is drunk in all other regions and cities. And in Tashkent, except for the elderly, everyone drinks black tea.
Uzbeks call green tea “ Kook choy” (approximately pronounced kok choy). If you are interested in knowing how to brew green tea correctly, read the recipe for making Uzbek green tea.
Uzbek green tea recipe
To brew green tea, take a porcelain teapot, warm it well and pour dry green tea into it. Now fill ¼ of the kettle’s volume with boiled water and place the kettle in the open oven for about 2-3 minutes. After which, you will need to add boiling water to half the kettle and cover it with some material, for example, a napkin or towel. After 3 minutes, add boiling water to ¾ of the kettle’s volume. Close the lid of the kettle and wait another 2-3 minutes, after which you can add boiling water to the top. Our Uzbek green tea is ready and you can drink it and enjoy the real taste of tea.Other varieties of Uzbek tea.
We have reviewed classic Uzbek green tea without any additives. But in the regions of Uzbekistan, tea is prepared according to different recipes. For example, in Karakalpakstan they love tea with pepper, tea with milk, tea with honey. But in this case, black tea is used.Honey tea with black pepper.
The recipe for honey tea with black pepper is the same as in the classic version of brewing tea. Only in this version, add 3 black peppercorns and 2 teaspoons of honey to one teaspoon of dry black tea. And the rest of the process is the same.In addition to the above mentioned recipes and varieties of Uzbek tea, there are also the following varieties of Uzbek tea:
- Chairman's tea (in Uzbek, called rais choy);
- Black tea (in Uzbek, called kora choy);
- Tea with nigella seeds (in Uzbek, called sedanali choy);
- A mixture of green and black tea (in Uzbek, called mijoz choy);
- Tea with basil (in Uzbek, called raikhonli choy);
If they pour you tea to the brim of the piyala, it means that they are not happy to see you. This is where the “Tea with Respect” tradition began. Close friends often ask each other when drinking tea: “ Do you want tea with respect or without respect?!».
One of the best and highest quality varieties of green tea is considered to be the Uzbek classic tea No. 95 - kok-choy. It has an amazing subtle aroma and a wonderful, delicate taste. This drink can be safely classified as an elite variety of tea, which, in terms of the fullness of its taste, is in no way inferior to the best teas in the world.
During the manufacturing process, tea 95 goes through four stages of processing:
- withering;
- drying;
- twisting;
- drying
How to brew and drink tea 95
Kok-tea is usually drunk without sugar, but with the addition of various aromatic spices and herbs. It is worth noting that tea, like the tea ceremony itself, is one of the delightful customs of the East. In any home, a guest will be given a bowl of aromatic Uzbek tea, since here it is considered a drink of hospitality.
Due to tea 95 is a classic Uzbek drink, it is recommended to brew and drink it according to the canons and characteristics of this country.
It is necessary to pour the tea leaves only into a properly heated teapot. Next, pour a small amount of boiling water and let it steam for a while. Then add water to half, then to ¾ of the volume and only after that completely add boiling water to the kettle for brewing tea. It is very important that between each approach of pouring boiling water there is a pause of two to three minutes.
Finally, it is worth adding that in Uzbekistan there is a tradition that the more respected the guest, the less tea is poured into his bowl. This is necessary so that he turns to the owner for a new portion of aromatic tea as often as possible.
“Tea is a long conversation between good people.”
Nowadays, tea is drunk by millions of people on earth, starting from Tibetan nomads who brew tiled tea directly in a cauldron and add milk, butter, salt, fried flour, fat tail fat, dried meat and God knows what else, to taste. ceremonial Japanese tea drinking, when a special type of tea, ground into a fine powder, is brewed in a small volume of water at the bottom of a cup and whipped into foam with a bamboo brush.
But all this is rather exotic. And in any respectable Asian teahouse you will be served hot tea in a porcelain teapot with a lid, optionally black or green. 
"A guest in the house is joy in the house"
The hospitable hosts will serve a real dastarkhan for the guests. In Europe, it is customary to call the entire process of the Central Asian feast dastarkhan. In fact, dastarkhan is just a tablecloth. It can be laid on a khantakhta - a low dining table, only 30-35 cm high, or on the floor. Guests are seated on soft mattresses spread over the carpet, with plenty of pillows. The atmosphere is more than relaxing. And it will be even better. 
As you know, utensils for an Uzbek feast are not needed at all. If we ignore the prejudices of European civilization, we cannot help but admit that eating with your hands is quite convenient. Soups and semi-liquid dishes are drunk directly from bowls, helping yourself with pieces of flatbread. In Europe there is a whole etiquette for using cutlery, and in Central Asia there is its own “flatbread” etiquette. Therefore, remember - flatbreads cannot be cut with a knife. At the beginning of the meal, they are broken into pieces by hand and placed near each guest. Uzbek flatbreads are rarely used as plates. They are thin in the middle and thick at the edges, so it is convenient to put meat or pilaf in them.
According to Uzbek custom, the feast begins and ends with tea.
This is a whole ritual action. The vessel into which the water is collected must be ceramic. The water is taken not settled, but fresh. For real tea, water must be boiled in a samovar over coals or wood. Then the tea will smell smoky. The water should boil thoroughly. Then the teapot is rinsed. Add a generous pinch of black or green tea and brew with boiling water. It is necessary to raise and lower the teapot several times to different height levels so that the tea leaves can move freely and open their tea leaves. 
When serving tea on the table, the youngest person takes over the pouring. He pours the tea drink from the teapot into the bowl and back three times to reveal the taste and color: “the first bowl is a muddy sai (small river), the second bowl is the aroma, the third bowl is real tea – treat your friends.”
It is necessary to let the tea settle, and only then pour it. Tea is poured into the bowl with “respect”, that is, 1/3 full, never whole. This way the tea cools down and the guest does not get burned. They pour tea into a bowl and offer it to the guest with their left hand, the right hand is placed on the left side of the chest, i.e. from the heart and tilt their head forward - “olin” (help yourself).
Tea is served with dishes with fresh, dried or dried fruits: raisins and apricots, melons and watermelons, as well as fried salted nuts and oriental sweets: candy sugar navat, candies made from flour and parvarda sugar, sweet miniature pies, halva - halvoitar. Along with flatbreads, guests will be offered samsa with meat, pumpkin or herbs. 
After tea and sweets, vegetables are served, then soups - shurpa, mastava and, finally, pilaf, manti, lagman, shish kebab or shgov, and sometimes all together. 
Uzbeks have special dishes.
Food is served to the table in porcelain and earthenware flat and deep dishes, plates, braids;
tea - in bowls and teapots of various sizes. 
Pour the teahouse keeper some tea.
Since ancient times, teahouses have been present in every mahalla, near bazaars, bathhouses and caravanserais. This is the most popular place among locals. 
The teahouse gathered folk musicians and poets over a cup of tea. Songs and poems were sung here, and wits competed with each other. And yet, tea in the East is just an excuse to get together with friends at the appointed tea and talk leisurely and tastefully about life.
“Have you ever been to a teahouse?
Under the canopy of a warbler, on the carpet,
Drinking green tea under the moon
Or at noon, forgetting about the heat?
The teahouse owner is a prominent figure in his neighborhood.
Here is his collective portrait. Middle aged, tall, plump, but not fat. The face is round, good-natured, not always cheerful, but invariably friendly. He knows everyone, is acquainted with everyone. He doesn’t say too much and doesn’t make unsolicited comments. But if asked, I’m always ready to give practical advice.
Good advice is half happiness.
And the teahouse owner himself remembers well his grandfather’s order: don’t skimp on the brew! 
The center of the teahouse is the samovar, which everyone calls Russian.
He is Russian, somewhere a century ago, most often from Tula, with medals on his sides for God knows what exhibitions. And if one can hardly imagine a teahouse without a teahouse owner, self-service, so to speak, then it’s impossible without a samovar. It has long replaced all other types of “heating devices” and it is not visible that anyone will encroach on the place of this polished copper steep-sided handsome man. 
The teahouse is usually located in a picturesque place, under the spreading crowns of trees, above a deep ditch or on the bank of a cozy house. An indispensable attribute of the teahouse is a cage, in which the bedana, with its gentle singing, creates a peaceful atmosphere conducive to relaxation and leisurely conversation.
Bedana is the name given to quail in Uzbekistan. Cages with bedans or improvised nests made of dried pumpkin are hung overhead in the teahouse, in the vine. Their singing is extraordinary)) It’s such a pleasure to sit in a teahouse, eat, drink tea to the wonderful trills of the bedana))
Three clicks of her here in series
Heard during the time of Uzbek chilla
In cages covered with cloth, from trees:
“It’s time to sleep” with her - at any time:
At dawn, at three in the morning, at one in the afternoon...
This is how the mahalla sings a lullaby
Bedana quail.These three clicks from afar -
Like a gurgling stream
Like a beacon that will show the way
To the teahouse, where guests are always welcome.Not a trill or a cry, but singing,
A little perky, a little sad,
Non-vain and without laziness -
Metronomic, meditative.Three clicks of it are a blessing,
Metronome of peace and goodness
In cages covered with cloth, from trees -
"Time to sleep! Pit-pill! Time to sleep!"
Obi-non
Uzbeks are very respectful of bread. The main Uzbek bread is unleavened flatbread obi-non. Their round shape symbolizes the sun. Patterns of holes and lines must be applied to the cakes. Uzbek flatbreads are simultaneously bread, plates for pilaf, meat and other fatty dishes, and works of art. Dry cakes are stored for a long time, so especially beautiful ones are even hung on walls for decoration. The tradition of making obi-non flatbreads dates back about 5,000 years. 
Tandoor
Flatbreads prepared according to different recipes are called differently: “lochire”, “shirmoy”, “chevat” and “katlama”, but they are all cooked in the tandoor.
In remote villages, where this stove is in every yard, the tandoor is a clay hemisphere, placed at the height of human growth, with a tightly sealed “rear” (and a small hole for ventilation) and an open “throat”. Its main purpose is to bake flat cakes. 
In teahouses, so-called vertical tandoors prevail, similar to huge jugs with an open neck, “standing” on the bottom. This design is more versatile, allowing you to bake samsa and flatbreads, as well as prepare many other “tandoor” dishes from meat, poultry or fish. 
To prepare traditional Uzbek obi-non, coal and firewood are placed in a tandoor and heated for several hours. The walls of the tandoor are sprinkled with salt water so that the finished flatbreads can be easily separated, and the dough is applied to them using a rapida (a round cotton pillow). The hot walls are generously sprinkled with water to steam the dough. Tandoor flatbreads have a unique aroma and taste due to the fact that they are cooked very quickly at high humidity and a temperature of 400-480 degrees. 
Avicenna wrote about Samarkand tandoori flatbreads:
“Whoever eats obi-non with raisins, dried pears or peanuts in the morning will be full for the whole day.”
Samsa
The flames fly high
And lights up the teahouse.
But don't be afraid, it's not a fire,
Tandoor needs high heat.And a scarlet tail, like from a volcano,
Like the eternal cancan dance -
The fire sings its song to us,
Burning all the gum.The elements have finally left
And the creator got down to business.
Like swallows' nests hanging,
Samsa in the tandoor, right in a row.A little time will pass
A teasing spirit will come from them.
Samsa, permeated with heat,
Sparkles with a bronze tan.
And our great Jami
Dedicated rubai to her:
“Khoja sent me a sambusa as a gift,
You appeared with lips like a fiery lal,
She sat down next to her in the shade. She brought me a piece.
As soon as I tasted it, I became a youth again.”
What is it, Uzbek tea?
Green tea (kok choy).
In all regions of Uzbekistan, except Tashkent, people usually drink green tea. Brew, strictly adhering to the indicated rules, a teaspoon per half liter of water, put on heat for 5 minutes, then serve.
Special order tea (rais choy).
Green tea is poured into a kettle heated with boiling water at the rate of three teaspoons per liter of water. Pour boiling water over the top of the kettle, set it on high for 5 minutes, cover with a napkin and serve after very fatty food on hot days and for patients with hypertension and diabetes.
Black tea (kora choy).
The favorite drink of Tashkent residents after meals is Indian and Ceylon tea. It is brewed in a teaspoon per half liter of water. If the tea is of the second grade, put it on heat for 3 minutes, if the tea is of the first and highest grade, serve immediately, covering the teapot with a napkin.
Tea with black pepper (murch choy).
Brew a teaspoon of black tea per half liter of water, ground black pepper on the tip of a knife. Tea and pepper are placed in a teapot, brewed with boiling water and served after a heavy meal, usually in winter, for quick absorption, for colds, when you need to sweat.
Basil tea (raikhonli choy).
Place a teaspoon of black tea and a pinch of powder from dried basil leaves (raikhon) into a rinsed teapot, pour boiling water over it, pour over the teapot and, covered with a napkin, serve after a meal, if you feel sleepy and feel heavy in the stomach.
Tea with nigella seeds (sedanali choy).
Add a teaspoon of black tea and 20 nigella seeds to half a liter of water. The kettle is kept near the heat for 2-3 minutes, then served. This tea is drunk if you have eaten food late in the evening and need to speed up its absorption. It is also drunk as an anthelmintic, and, with the addition of honey, as a bile- and diuretic.
Tea with saffron (zafaronli choy).
For half a liter of water, 1 tsp/l of green tea and saffron on the tip of a knife. It is recommended for nausea, colic in the heart area, and belching. 
In Uzbekistan, tea has always been held in high esteem. The drink helps digest fatty oriental food, saves you from the heat, and promotes leisurely conversation in a teahouse. Let's figure out how it is customary to brew and drink tea in this sunny country, and what unusual recipes there are for the traditional drink.
Uzbek tea – spicy and sunny
Uzbekistan is a colorful sunny country. Tea has been revered here since the 19th century; it is used to escape the scorching heat; the drink helps the body digest traditional fatty foods. Once upon a time, tea was quite expensive; only wealthy citizens could afford to buy it. Middle-class residents infused mixtures of herbs with a small addition of tea leaves, quince, pomegranate and rose petals.
The traditional container for preparing tea in Uzbekistan is kumgan, a small copper jug. Russian samovars were also widely used. Throughout the country, green tea is more common - called “kok-choy”; tea brewed with milk is called “ok-choy”. In Tashkent, they often drink black “kora-choy”.
The most popular tea is Uzbek tea 95 - this number hides large-leaf green tea. The drink has a delicate aroma and delicate taste, not inferior to the world's elite teas. The raw materials are grown in China and packaged in Uzbekistan. In production, tea leaves are withered, dried and rolled along the longitudinal axis, then finally dried.
Uzbek tea is drunk not only with sweets, but also with butter, salt, and pepper. This drink is popular among nomads due to its satiety and calorie content.
Tea traditions
In Uzbekistan, people drink tea in large groups while having a leisurely conversation. There is even a special place for drinking tea - a teahouse. Such popular establishments are located in residential areas, near bazaars; people come here not only for a drink, but also to listen to folk musicians and poets perform.
Green Uzbek tea lowers cholesterol, activates digestion, strengthens teeth and bones, calms the nervous system, and lowers blood pressure.
Recipes
For traditional Uzbek tea, you will need a porcelain teapot. Warm the container with boiling water, put the tea leaves in it. Fill the kettle a quarter full with hot water and place it in an open, preheated oven for 2 minutes. Add boiling water halfway and cover with a thin cloth. After 3 minutes, pour in hot water until the volume is full, close the container with a lid, and let stand for 3 minutes.
Pour the drink into wide bowls, no more than half of its volume - this way it will cool faster and the guest will not burn his fingers. In order not to offend the owner, it is customary to drink everything at once, to the bottom. If the bowl is filled to the top, the guest is not very welcome in this house.
- Ok choy milk infusion: take 2.5 liters of milk, 2 tsp. tea leaves, 1/2 tsp. salts and butter (butter or ghee). Pour 0.5 liters of water into the pan, boil and add the tea leaves. Wait 3 minutes, add milk, boil the mixture for 8-10 minutes, add salt. The finished drink is poured into bowls and topped with oil. Drink with Uzbek pastries.
- Black pepper tea: put 1 tsp in the kettle. tea leaves and a pinch of ground pepper, pour in 2 cups of boiling water. This drink is drunk in the winter after a heavy meal, when you have a cold, to warm up.
Fortunately, we have an excellent remedy for autumn spleen and accompanying physiological problems such as a permanent cold - hot tea. Since we won’t be drinking it until next summer, it makes sense to diversify the taste with aromatic (and healthy) additives.
Thyme
Everyone knows the brilliant Caucasian invention. Tea with thyme is good not only for its taste, but also for its ability to pacify various unpleasant processes, such as coughing and congestion in the nasopharynx. Like any wonderful invention, people love to counterfeit tea with thyme or simply spoil it out of ignorance. Here are the rules that must be followed.
For this mixture, take tea suitable for it - black Indian or Ceylon, of good quality, of course. The sour taste of Chinese black tea or the floral, light spirit of high-mountain Indian varieties like Darjeeling do not go well with thyme.
Thyme, of course, must be special - tea. Culinary spice or, God forbid, pharmaceutical sachets are only suitable for bad cafes. Look for tea thyme in markets. The more carefully it is selected - all branches, sticks and dry inflorescences are removed, the purer and brighter the aroma will be (which should not have any earthy aftertaste), the tastier the infusion and, of course, the higher the price. Thyme for tea is sold in stores selling Armenian goods, of which there are plenty in Moscow, for example in the same “Armenia” store on Pushkinskaya Square.
Sagan-dailya
The Siberian name of the plant, botanically called Adams' rhododendron. Quite little is known outside of Altai and Western Siberia, which, of course, is a terrible omission. Because tea with it (in addition to the fact that it warms you very well, relieves pain and generally gives you vigor) has some kind of fantastically ideal taste. You can only try properly brewed tea with sagan-daily in some very special teahouses with a particularly advanced assortment, or with friends from Siberia. Or - which is easiest - by preparing it yourself.
You can buy sagan-dailya in stores and on websites that sell pharmaceutical herbs.
You need to brew it with powerful, strong Ceylon tea, not too bright so as not to interrupt the aroma, green, for example, the “gunpowder” variety, or with Chinese red tea, an analogue of our black.
The aroma of sagan-daily is very strong, so you should be stingy and not put more than 4-5 leaves on the teapot; they will be quite enough to radically change the taste and aroma of the tea.
Uzbek mountain tea
A mixture of thyme, saffron and cardamom is a type of tea drink drunk throughout the Central Asian highlands, from northern India to Turkmenistan. The original drink is called "kava", and it comes from Kashmir. This is how they make kava.
Pour cold water over two or three cardamom pods, a pinch of saffron, a cinnamon stick, a piece of vanilla pod, a few cloves, a couple of black peppercorns - the set and quantity of spices, of course, is different in each home. Sugar is added there and heated to a boil. This sweet spicy boiling water is poured over green tea and boiled for 5-10 minutes over low heat. You can add more sugar or honey or crushed walnuts to the finished tea. This recipe, with variations, spread throughout the surrounding regions, and in Uzbekistan it was reduced to three ingredients. You can look for this mixture in the markets, in the aisles where they sell spices, Uzbek red rice, yellow carrots, dishes, cauldrons and other Central Asian goods. Or you can make your own by mixing about five parts thyme with two parts cardamom and one part saffron. This mixture warms and clears the nasopharynx perfectly, especially if you add some good tea to it. Ideal are Uzbek green tea or its analogues, that is, simple varieties of twisted Chinese green tea, or high-mountain Indian varieties like Darjdiling.
Bay leaf
An excellent addition to green tea, very common, for example, in Kalmykia. Tea with bay leaves seems to be thicker, more substantial, and spicy, which, of course, is important in the fall. An option is to either simply put 1-2 leaves along with the tea leaves in a teapot, or brew full-fledged Kalmyk tea:
Boil a mixture of equal parts water and milk, adding a little salt to it. Pour this mixture over green tea with bay leaves and cook for about five minutes over medium heat. For maximum authenticity, add a little butter to your tea.
Juniper
An excellent addition to aged Chinese black tea, such as pu-erh. Pu-erh itself is an ideal drink for cold and dank weather, very invigorating and warming. Juniper berries further enhance the smoky, smoked note of tea, recalling the unrealistic, alas, for most city dwellers, pleasure of listening to the elements raging outside the window while sitting by the fireplace. The technology is simple - add 5-6 dried juniper berries to the teapot. These berries can be bought at a pharmacy or on a website that sells pharmaceutical herbs.
Danila Suslov
