Tea Time in Kazakhstan

Those of you who know me pretty well know that I am a huge coffee lover. Some would clarify that as “coffee snob” and I have a hard time refuting this! However, most days here find me firing up the kettle in our kitchen, every hour or so, for some fabulous varieties of the local teas. Black teas, fruit infused teas, green teas … you name it.

We’ve learned that Kazakhstan, being located in central Asia, is a country of tea connoisseurs, or tea snobs if you will. I figured I’d do as the Romans do while we’re here and embark on an exploration of the various teas they have in their “tea aisle” at the grocery stores.

I am not kidding when I say they have an entire aisle dedicated to tea … with a few jars of instant coffee (Tasters Choice) nearby. They also have an entire aisle for chocolate too, which is separate from their aisle of general candies. We can see the priorities of the culture here, and we highly support those priorities!

The black tea here is wonderful and very smooth. The traditional Kazakh way to serve it is with milk and sugar cubes. I also found a Lipton Black tea with Mango and Peach infusion … wonderful stuff which I don’t think we’ll be able to find back home so I may have to bring some back. I also happened to bring a couple of loose tea blends from home, which I’m grateful to have thought to pack now.

So, as you read this, chances are if we’re not sleeping or visiting Lily Grace, it means one thing: it’s tea time and I’m busy firing up that kettle. Cheers!

Tonya