Note
Çay culture
Çay
Çay is Turkish for tea: black, served freshly brewed and hot in pear-shaped cups. Offering it is an everyday practice of hospitality, across all layers of society.
What happens
Çay is the Turkish word for tea. Çay culture in Türkiye is an important social practice that shows hospitality, builds and maintains social ties, and is used to celebrate important moments in the lives of communities.
Communities primarily harvest and consume black tea. They brew it using a wide variety of kettles, produced using traditional craftsmanship. The drink is served freshly brewed and hot, in pear-shaped cups made from glass, porcelain, faience or silver, and is typically accompanied by sweets, sugar, lemon slices, jams and dried fruits.
Çay culture is an essential part of daily life for all layers of society, providing a strong sense of cultural identity. Those who carry it include tea farmers and harvesters, tearoom owners, tea makers, and the artisans who make the associated tools, utensils and sweets. It was inscribed in 2022 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, jointly by Azerbaijan and Türkiye.
When it happens
No dates are published for this practice yet.
Before you go
Caution
The archive has not found a source it trusts for what is expected of a visitor here. That is not the same as nothing being expected. Read local guidance and follow what people around you are doing.
Where it happens
Türkiye
General area only
Only the surrounding area is published for this location.
Sources
Short code
tr-pwqmh
A short, stable identifier for this entry, printed on cards and quotable anywhere.