What is the book 'Russian Tea Tradition' about?

'Russian Tea Tradition' is a book not only about the methods of producing and preparing tea leaves, but also about the culture that formed around tea. The author explores the history of tea from its appearance to its penetration into Russia and other countries, talks about the Great Tea Road from China to Russia, and the traditions of Russian tea drinking.

Tea became the main hot drink of the Russian people and, of course, an independent cultural phenomenon. Everyone drank tea, from peasants and guild members to Witte and Tsar Nicholas, and everyone had their own tea habits.

The story of tea brings with it stories associated with it: about what drinks were drunk in Rus' before tea appeared, about who first brought tea to Russia and when it fully penetrated the life of Russian society. There is a story here about how Russian merchants settled in China and began producing brick tea there, and how the British counterfeited it.

Peasants living along the roads offered their tenants and guests expensive Chinese tea, which many European aristocrats could not afford.

The book calls tea 'a unifying principle', tells what kind of tea was valued at the Russian court, and what kind - in peasant, commoner, aristocratic and bohemian circles. And what they drank it with. And from what. Separate lines are devoted to the confrontation between 'tea' Moscow and 'coffee' Petersburg, the role of Yaroslavl residents in the creation of teahouses.

Almost 170 sources, literary and historical, were used in the creation of the book. There are many quotes here, painting scenes from the distant and relatively recent (Soviet) past, and wonderful illustrations are used.

Counterfeiting tea brought in huge profits, and a lot of effort was often expended on it. It is known that a separate industry of the peasants of the Kalyazin district was the counterfeiting of Chinese boxes lined with lead on the inside - the kind in which expensive tea was brought from China.

Tea shares were very profitable and were almost never traded on the exchanges - tea remained a family business of merchant dynasties.

Features

The publication is illustrated with superb watercolors by Alexandra Virch.

For whom

For those interested in Russian history and history in general, for tea connoisseurs, for gourmets and cooks, for restaurateurs, hoteliers and for those who are thinking of opening their own teahouse or starting a wholesale tea trade. And also for economists, sociologists, cultural scientists, tea producers, local historians, teachers of secondary and higher educational institutions, and advertising specialists.