Drinking tea in Iran

Tea is the way to drink in Iran. We drink tea in the morning, afternoon, for tea and dinner and in between.

I read that there is Iranian coffee something like Turkish coffee they said, but never found it in any shop. When I ordered coffee, my driver said, "This is Iran. We drink tea,". tea hea hea.

There are infact tea houses in Iran. Just like our kopitiam. So I suppose no one makes the coffee-shop joke in Iran.

Do you know that Iran plants tea? On our way north to the Caspian sea, tea is planted at every corner of someone's house. It's either paddy or tea or both.

I find the tea a bit bitter. I had to put 3-4 sugar cube to sweeten it. And also I was worried about sembelit, looking at the colour of the tea, I diluted it.

Until I found the right way to drink it. You are suppose to put the sugar cube in between your front teeth and sip the hot tea through it. The sugar cube is not like the gula batu, hard and rocky, rather it is sugar being compacted.

So as you sip your tea, the sugar would dilute with it. If you can time yourself well enough, you just need one sugar cube for the whole cup.

And after that, I find myself liking the drink.