Lankaran Azerbaijani Black Tea

Lankaran, on the Caspian coast of southern Azerbaijan, grows almost all of the country's tea, and almost all of it is black. Azerbaijanis drink it hot and strong in pear-shaped glasses, with lump sugar and lemon. Brewed in a teapot at 94°C.

Origin & Story

Azerbaijan is a tea country twice over: tea is a daily habit, and tea also grows there. Almost all of it grows in the Lankaran lowlands, between the Caspian Sea and the Talysh Mountains, near the border with Iran, where the subtropical climate suits the bush. About 90% of Azerbaijan's tea, by one account, comes from Lankaran, and black tea makes up around 98% of what is made.

Tea was first grown around the Caspian in the 1880s. M. O. Novoselov planted experimental bushes in Lankaran and built a tea factory there in 1896, and in 1912 he published a book on growing tea in the Russian subtropics. It became a real industry under the Soviet Union: production reached about 26,000 tons in 1982, on 9,300 hectares with 65,000 to 70,000 workers, and the harvest of green leaf peaked in the 1980s at 34,000 to 38,000 tons.

The Soviet collapse nearly ended it. Output fell to about 1,200 tons in 1995, and by 2007 and 2008 less than 500 tons of leaf were picked. A state program approved for 2018 to 2027 aims to rebuild it.

In Azerbaijan tea is brewed fresh, hot and strong, and served in pear-shaped armudu glasses with lump sugar rather than sand sugar, lemon and sweets; milk tea is uncommon. For a cup at home, use 3 g of leaf in 240 ml of water at about 94°C, steep for three to four minutes in a teapot, and drink it plain or with a slice of lemon.

Reading the Flavor Profile

These values are comparative editorial positions within our own catalog, calibrated so entries can be ranked against each other. They are not laboratory measurements.