As the day begins on a rural estate in western Georgia, rain clouds blanket the Caucasus mountains, signaling the start of the tea harvest. A skilled tea picker swiftly navigates the bushes, selecting only the freshest, greenest shoots from each plant.
When Pati first started picking tea leaves as a teenager, the land was part of a collective farm under the Soviet Union. Following the collapse of the Soviet regime, the estate fell into disrepair, with the tea bushes becoming overgrown by the encroaching forest until new cultivators began to restore them in the 2010s.
Currently, the tea leaves produced here are gaining popularity among luxury tea importers in Europe and the United States, who are rediscovering what the Soviets had long known: Georgia’s humid Black Sea climate and chilly Caucasus winters create optimal conditions for tea cultivation, with a renewed emphasis on quality over the mass production typical of the Soviet era.
Ana Dane, from the New York-based tea company In Pursuit of Tea, noted, “These plants are obviously thriving here; they produce an incredible flavor.” She described her initial experience with teas from the Renegade Tea Estate, located in Georgia’s Imereti region, as “exquisitely-produced teas.”
With its subtropical coastline, Georgia stands as one of the northernmost regions globally where tea can thrive. The cold winters force the tea bushes into a seven-month dormancy, which enhances their polyphenol levels, leading to a distinctly sweeter leaf. Additionally, the harsh winters eliminate pests, allowing Georgian farmers to adhere to organic farming standards more easily.
The resurgence of Georgia’s tea industry received a boost from the European Union, which invested in the sector with the aim of revitalizing the country’s economy. Although progress slowed when the Georgian Dream party, aligned with the Kremlin, abandoned accession talks, local tea growers continue to make remarkable strides.
Tea’s introduction to Georgia can be traced back to the Silk Road; however, formal cultivation began in the early 1800s, initiated by a Georgian prince who planted bushes near the modern city of Ozurgeti. The Russian Empire later turned to Georgia for a reliable tea supply, with the Guria region eventually becoming the USSR’s tea production hub. By the 1980s, Georgia had risen to be the fifth-largest tea producer worldwide.
Lika Megreladze reflects on this period, recalling her childhood visits to her mother, who worked at the Institute of Tea and Subtropical Cultures. She reminisced about traversing an eight-kilometer path from her ancestral home through the vibrant Gurian forest. “Every major empire aims to produce its own tea,” she remarked, noting the Russian Empire’s similar ambitions alongside those of other nations like Portugal and Britain.
During her mother’s tenure at the institute, she met international students from renowned tea-producing countries such as Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Today, Megreladze collects Soviet-era magazines featuring interviews with tea pickers, preserving the history of the industry. Visitors to her home often express nostalgia upon seeing old boxes of Gruzinsky chai, a tea known more for its affordability than its taste.
The collapse of the Soviet Union brought significant challenges to Georgia’s tea sector, which struggled amid broader economic turmoil. The revival of this industry was initiated by Shota Bitadze, a young engineer in Tbilisi, who began by importing Chinese herbs during a local medicine shortage before shifting his focus to tea cultivation.
“Some people had tea bushes at home but didn’t know how to properly process the leaves,” explained Giorgi Bitadze, Shota’s son. In 2006, the Bitadze family established the Georgian Organic Tea Producers Association with 16 other families dedicated to producing high-quality tea, and they opened the Bitadze Tea Museum in Tbilisi.
The area under active tea cultivation grew from 800 hectares in 2014 to 1,900 hectares by 2019, thanks to a government initiative that financed up to 90% of the costs to revive abandoned tea plantations from the Soviet era.
While tea enthusiasts in countries like Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus, remnants of the Soviet bloc, eagerly buy from the Bitadze’s organic association, Timothy Merkel, an American tour guide in Tbilisi, remarked that “crossing the Iron Curtain remains a challenge.” He has created the Georgian Tea Makers website and previously managed a company aimed at introducing Georgian tea to the UK market.
Despite these obstacles, an increasing number of Georgian tea producers are finding success abroad. In Paris, the specialty tea shop Palais des Thés highlights its “exceptional” Georgian tea offerings and has boosted its orders from Georgia twelvefold since 2019. In New York City, the fine tea importer Royal Cathay has partnered with In Pursuit of Tea to stock leaves from Georgian producers.
Nika Sioridze, co-founder of the tea growing company GreenGold, along with his childhood friend Baka Babunashvili, stated, “Our initial focus was not to export to Russia due to its instability.” Their venture began by revitalizing 25 hectares of former tea plantations, with a desire to innovate for a new generation of tea drinkers. They transformed a Soviet-era silk factory into a processing facility, experimented with fermenting tea in traditional clay qvevri, established an Amazon seller account, and opened a tasting room in Tbilisi.
Through their experimental approach, Sioridze and Babunashvili have created unique teas that reflect the historical cycles of growth and decline within the Georgian tea industry. One memorable experience involved the misjudgment of leaves during the drying process for green tea, which led to an unexpected yet deliciously roasted flavor instead of a burnt one, resulting in their signature Phoenix tea.
