Georgian tea? Most people think of Georgia as the birthplace of wine and the location of the mighty Caucasus mountains, not as a place for excellent tea. Tea has been produced in Georgia for more than 170 years. During the Soviet Union, Georgia grew to be the world’s fourth largest producer of tea, filling the cups of millions of people across the former USSR. On Europe’s doorstep, western Georgia’s subtropical hills are perfect for growing tea. Read on to learn the fascinating story of Georgia’s tea traditions.

A tea rolling machine at a small tea farm in Guria, Western Georgia.

History of Georgian Tea – the very beginnings

Georgian tea tradition has existed long before the arrival of the tea plant (Camellia sinesis). In the Caucasus Mountains, locals enjoyed a wide variety of botanical teas sourced from the abundant forests and meadows. From time immemorial, communities have hand-rolled and fermented wild blueberry leaf tea from wild blueberry bushes (also known as the European bilberry and Caucasisan whortleberry) that flourish wild across the mountains. Rhododendron leaves, blackberry leaves, wild mountain thyme, rose hips, hawthorn berries, sea buckthorns, young mulberry leaves, different varieties of mint, and many more wild plants are also used to make teas. No one knows exactly when Georgian mountaineers began to ferment their fruit leaf teas, but it may have long predated the cultivation of tea in Georgia.

Adjara – one of the region’s where communities have hand-rolled and fermented mountain teas for centuries.

The introduction of the tea plant to Georgia

The Russian Empire first brought tea to Georgia in 1847. In the middle of the 19th century, China retained a near-monopoly on global tea production, leading major colonial powers such as the United Kingdom to develop their own sources of tea production in India and Africa. The Russian Empire, seeking the same kind of an independent supply chain of tea, began planting experimental tea farms in various regions of its southern territories. They soon discovered that Georgia produced excellent tea.

Russian Imperial scientists researched the best varieties and methods for producing tea in Georgia. In the late 19th century, a team of Chinese tea growers, led by the agronomist Lao Jin Jao, were invited to Georgia to supervise and improve tea production. From their headquarters in a quaint house in Chakvi on the Black Sea coast, they improved the quality and efficiency of Georgian tea production. Georgian tea was awarded the gold medal at the World Expo of Paris in 1900.

A tea leaf on the floor of Lao Jin Jao’s house which now lies abandoned on the Black Sea coast

History of Georgian tea – Soviet developments

After the October Revolution in 1917, the Soviet Union applied its ideals of mass production to Georgian tea and heavily developed and mechanized the sector. During the 20th century, tea became one of the leading crops in West Georgia; so many tea plantations and tea factories were created in Guria, Samegrelo, and Imereti that the local population was not sufficient to staff them, and families from other parts of Georgia were resettled to these regions to work. Georgian black tea was exported all over the Soviet Union and drunk from Leningrad to Vladivostok, while Georgian green tea was especially popular in the Soviet republics of central Asia such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

A revived tea plantation in Guria in 2021. The tea bushes from Soviet times survived although the industry collapsed.

The decline of the Georgian tea industry

Unfortunately, the Soviet innovations in tea production also sowed the seeds of Georgian tea’s decline. An overwhelming focus on quantity of production rather than quality led to the ruining of the name of Georgian tea in the planned economy which was its only market. The knowledge of the illustrious heritage of quality tea production was retained only by a few artisanal tea makers.

Georgian tea collapsed soon after the fall of the Union. The industry lost its position as the main exporter to the USSR. During Georgia’s civil war from 1991 to 1994, all the tea factories and machinery were ripped apart and sold as scrap metal as people struggled to survive. It fell to those few artisans who had retained the knowledge of proper production methods and the enormous potential quality of Georgian tea to rebuild what was left behind.

The ruins of a tea factory overlooking Guria’s mountains

Georgian Tea in the present – artisanal and organic

In the decades since, Georgian tea has made a slow comeback. A close-knit community of tea growers is rehabilitating abandoned factories and overgrown plantations. Guria remains the heart of Georgian tea and a few artisanal tea makers produce small batches of tea. You can visit tea guesthouses like Komli and learn first-hand how to make tea. In nearby Imereti, Nika, the creator of our wild blueberry leaf tea, produces excellent black and white teas from some of the highest elevation plantations in the country.

Nela-Nela’s cofounders Amy and Tim tasting Georgian teas

Georgian tea is still not so well-known in the western market, even though it is the geographically closest tea region to Europe. Although tea from Georgia is becoming more popular from year to year as production increases and as more Western tourists come to visit, it is still not produced in very large quantities, as today’s teamakers prefer to maintain a focus on the highest quality, rather than mass production. In the hands of capable, artisan tea makers, however, it stands proudly in the ranks of the finest teas the world has to offer. Produced in unique climatic conditions without the aid of chemicals, its flavour is distinct and memorable. Georgian black tea has unmistakably warm, nutty and earthy flavours, while Georgian green tea is richly botanical in a way that only the finest mountain-grown green teas from Asia can compare

Where to buy Georgian tea

You can buy Georgian tea from our online shop. We also recommend asking if your local tea shop stocks Georgian tea. Georgia’s tea community needs your support.

Georgian Tea: a complete guide