Çaykur Uzungöl Turkish Black Tea 80 g – Trabzon Uzungöl Çayı

Trabzon Uzungöl Çayı is one of Çaykur's regional gift teas: an 80 g loose-leaf Turkish black tea named after Uzungöl, the lake-and-valley village in Trabzon's Çaykara district on Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast. Çaykur — Çay İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Turkey's state tea enterprise, founded in 1971 and headquartered in Rize — describes this tea as made from the first shoots that emerge from under the winter snow cover in the Rize growing basin. The snow protects the tea plants through the cold months, and the earliest leaves it releases in spring are what fill this teal bag.

In the glass it is a classic siyah çay: brick-red liquor, brisk Black Sea character, and a clean finish that takes sugar well but doesn't need it. Brew it the traditional way with a two-tier çaydanlık — strong concentrate on top, hot water below, poured to taste into tulip glasses. A regular teapot or French press works too; this is everyday loose leaf, not a fussy specialty tea.

• Net weight: 80 g loose-leaf black tea — single ingredient, nothing added
• Producer: Çaykur, Rize, Türkiye — the largest enterprise in the Turkish tea sector by its own account
• Part of Çaykur's regional series alongside Ayder Çayı and Tirebolu Elekaltı
• Teal bag printed with the Uzungöl lake and its valley village

The 80 g format suits two kinds of buyers: anyone who wants to taste Çaykur before committing to a half-kilo pack, and anyone who has stood on the shore of Uzungöl — or plans to — and would rather bring home a piece of Trabzon than a fridge magnet. Available as a single bag or in 3- and 5-bag sets.