Buying another teapot in Erbil at the New Longo Bazar Iraq

I wanted to come home with a Turkish Teapot.  I know I was in Iraq, but this maybe the closest I get to getting a Turkish Teapot for a really great price.

My mom gave me $50 for my birthday to get a teapot. The hunt was on...

When I saw this one, I knew this was the one I wanted!  And I ended get it at a great price.

The money is fun.  And they have no coins over in Iraq.

I thought I was set, I had my Turkish Teapot.  Well, then one of my friends sent me $40 for my birthday and said I needed to buy more teapots...lol!

I then knew I needed a Kurdish Teapot.  Their teapots aren't super fancy, they are just metal pots that stack.  I knew I wanted the stacked teapots, but I also wanted to step it up a bit and get fun ones.

We went to night bazar at New Longo.

I loved these cafe tables made out of barrels.  Also, these igloo "tables" were all over too.

My real goal was to get the tea saucers like all the restaurants were using.  I wanted pottery ones, mot glass.  We stopped in several shops, and everyone said we would not find them.  They were not sold here. 

But then we found this shop!!!  I found everything on my list here.

Kurdish Teapot

12 teacups

12 tea saucers

12 spoons

My friend had given me $40 for a teapot.  I ended up getting EVERYTHING here for $40.

My teapot was $20.US I just love it. It is such a fun color.

I looked at several teacups and decided to go with the clear ones but had a little design in the glass itself.

My friends told me to look for the cups with the 2 tear drops on the bottom, they are the Pyrex of dishes. 

I bought 12 cups.

I then was THRILLED to find the tea saucers.  This is the ONLY time I saw pottery saucers the entire 10 days in Iraq.  I love them.  These are the saucers that every restaurant used too.

The spoons were simple but also had a little gold on them.

Here are the 4 teapots I purchased,

I bought these great date cookies while there.  They were great, I wish I had bought a few more boxes of them.

Anyway, it turns out that the tin stores my 12 teacups perfectly!

Yes, my suitcases were full!  I took 48 pounds of stuff over to Erbil for my friends...and I came home with 51 pounds of tea items for myself! 

Things I learned about Kurdish Tea while I was in Iraq:

Tea here is called Chai.  It is a black Ceylon tea with cardamon.

A teahouse is the second most visited place in Iraq, just after the mosques.

Tea is the number one drink in Iraq.

There are tea houses all over Erbil and some are for men only.  The men sit around- drink tea, play games, talk business, and politics.  

Tea houses in Iraq are called chai khana.

It is becoming more acceptable to women to be allowed in some teahouses.

Iraqis are said to drink 1 pound of tea a month.  In 2021, Iraq was the largest importers of Ceylon tea.

Tea is for rich and poor, old and young.  It is a part of the culture in Iraq.

In the 19th century the governor of Bhagdad turned all the coffee houses into tea houses.

But tea really gained it's popularity when the British army came to Iraq.

 I've heard that people will start their day with Kurdish tea too.  That if they don't they believe they will often have headaches and become dizzy.

If you buy tea along the streets here it is less and .50

Iraqi tea is served in a small cup made of glass called “Istikan” and this word means “East Tea

Can”.  In other countries, I have heard them called Tulip cups, because of the shape.

 Tea is made in a Samovar.  The bottom kettle has the hot water, the top, smaller kettle has the stronger tea concentrate.  You would fill the cup up with around 3/4 of the black tea and then the rest with hot water.  You try to fill the cup up as full as you can.

When tea is served it comes on a saucer, with the cup and a spoon.  The spoons can stick together.  If a man receives two spoons that means he will have two wives.

To cool the tea, some pour the tea in the saucer to drink it.  Some also keep the teacup in the saucer and lift the saucer up to drink from the cup, since the tea can be so hot.

There are a few things that can be added to this tea...a cinnamon stick, a rose bud, saffron, and even a  tea perfume.

Tea is served with dates, sunflower seeds, pistachios, cookies, and other sweet treats. 

The teaspoon is left in the cup when the tea is poured, if left out they think of you as inferior to them.  (I also read that you never serve the spoon in the cup.  It all depends on what part of Iraq you are from.  When served in Erbil, it always had a spoon in the cup when it was brought to me. Yet, when I went to a Kurdish home, he made the tea without the spoon in it.)

People love the clinking of the teaspoon along the teacup as the sugar is stirred in.  The clinking sounds are heard all over shops and bazars.

You will find kiosks of tea sellers on the side of streets, in the bazar, and all along the roads in villages.

Picnics always includes tea.  People will grill their food over wood and charcoal and then put the kettle on.  Some say tea over wood or charcoal is the best.

If you go to someone's house, it is rude for them not to offer tea.  And you usually will have at least 2 cups.

1 Peter 4:10-11, ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.