Day 7 and tea at Mam Khalil's Teahouse
We headed back to the Erbil Qayseri Bazar for tea...and also to help me buy a teapot. There was a Turkish teapot that I wanted, but we thought they were asking too much, so we brought a local with me to see if we could get a better price.
First, we started at Mam Khalil's. Mam means Uncle. This is one of the older teahouses at the Bazar. It was built in the 1940's.
This tea is really growing on me. I enjoy the black tea with light notes of cardamom.
Women are allowed in this teahouse.
This lovely woman was sitting near me. She is one of the people that I saw drinking tea by lifting the saucer and cup to drink. When the teacup is hot it does help to keep the cup on the saucer and lift them together.
I did also see people pour the tea into the saucer and drink the tea from the saucer. This is the way tea used to be drunk.
This tea came out with sugar already in it. I did not stir all the sugar in, for me, it makes it too sweet.
Views and sites from where I am sitting.
Things I learned about Kurdish Tea:
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.
Here is what the money looks like here. There are NO coins.
This the teapot goal!
When we were here the other day, the man said it was 70,000 Denari, but he came down to 65,000. My goal was to get it for 60,000 Denari, around $40.00 USA.
There were so many different and beautiful teapots.
The ones below on the right are breakfast sets. They were over 100,000 Denari.
I looked at so many teapots. I tried to just go with the one that caught my eye. The red one below that is etched and painted was gorgeous, but it was over 80,000 Denari and I could not justify that, lol.
Well, I ended up getting my Turkish Teapot for 55,000 Denari!! yay! My friend tried to get it for 50,000, but I was happy for 55,00!
While we walked around some of the other shops, I found a small tea kettle like my friends use for tea picnics. It was $4.00 US. I snatched it up. It is a great reminder of my tea picnic!
I also purchased this other little tea kettle for $3.00 US. I love little tea kettles, so these were fun to bring home.
As we walked around the bazar we saw abandoned teacups all over.
We also saw these tea sellers walking around the bazar selling tea.
I saw these women buying tea cookies. The cookies are just out in the open in the market. There are birds flying all over, there is no way I was buying these...lol.
I loved the color of the fruits and veggies at the stands.
The spices were gorgeous too. All the colors and aromas!
This old man was so cute pushing his cart around. I wonder if he was delivering or picking up?
The Lipton awning made me chuckle.
Tea was everywhere!
Here is the Citadel. It is right across the street from the bazar.
At the bazar looking at the Citadel.
1 Peter 4:10-11, ESV
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.
