Çay high: Here is the price of a cup of tea in Istanbul
Burak Coşan - ISTANBUL
Turkey leads the world in tea consumption per capita, so how much does it cost to sip a cup of the country’s favorite hot beverage in its largest metropolis?
The price of a glass of tea Istanbul varies widely from place-to-place and from district-to-district, according to research by daily Hürriyet. You can order a serving of tea for as little as 1 Turkish Lira ($0.17) at an ordinary coffee shop. Going to sip a cup of tea at a luxury restaurant could cost you up to five times that amount - a whopping 25 liras ($4.32).
Turkey ranks first in the world in tea consumption per capita, according to report by the International Tea Committee. The country consumes around 260,000 tons of tea per year, and its average annual per capita tea consumption is about 3.5 kilograms per person, the committee found.
Daily Hürriyet scouted out the price highs and lows of going out for tea at some eating and drinking spots in Turkey’s largest metropolis.
Çay high
Tuğra Restaurant located in the Çırağan Palace Kempinski in the Beşiktaş district charges 25 liras for a cup of tea, but it is far from distinct in this city of over 15 million in demanding that price, according to daily Hürriyet’s research.
The prices aren’t much less in many locations on Bağdat Avenue, one of the busiest shopping districts in Istanbul. The price of a cup of tea at Mado’s Bağdat Avenue branch is 5.5 liras ($0.95). The same tea at Divan Pub costs 9 liras ($1.56). Midpoint’s tea price on the same street is 6 liras (around $1).
Tea prices also differ at Zorlu Shopping Center on the European side. The fee charged for a glass of tea is 11 liras ($1.90$) at Morini, 12 liras ($2.08) at Cantinery and 4.5 liras ($0.78) at Saray Muhallebicisi.
At the Akasya Shopping Center in Acıbadem on the Asian side, you must hand over 7 liras ($1.21) to have a cup of tea, 6.5 liras ($1.12) at Num Num, and 4 liras ($0.69) at Bodrum Mantı & Cafe.
While the prices at shopping centers might be considered moderate, tea prices in some restaurants within five-star hotels are çay high, so to speak: It’ll cost you 20 liras ($3.46) at Hilton Istanbul Bomonti The Globe, 16 liras at Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus Summit Bar and Terrace, 25 liras ($4.32) at Swissotel The Bosphorus Sabrosa’da.
If you want a glass of tea before your flight, it’ll cost you about 15 liras ($2.59) at Sabiha Gökçen Airport.
One kilogram of tea equals 300 glasses
The tea sold in the markets also comes at different prices. Depending on the quality of the tea, 1 kilogram of tea can be sold for 20 liras ($3.46) and up to 40 liras ($6.92).
There are also different opinions about how many cups of tea can come from 1 kilogram of tea. According to brewers, 150 to 300 cups of tea can be steeped from 1 kilogram of tea.
Especially in Rize, Artvin, Trabzon and Giresun provinces of the eastern Black Sea region in Turkey, which is the fifth biggest tea producer in the world, black tea planting is done on approximately 830,000 decares.
Around 1 million families in the country are engaged in tea cultivation.
China ranks first in the world tea production with 2.2 million tons followed by India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
