We took a walk in some largely Russophone neighborhoods in South Brooklyn on a beautiful afternoon.

I hadn’t walked around Manhattan Beach in maybe ten years. I was struck by how many new houses looked like the small-lot mansions you see in Mill Basin, the neighborhood apotheosized in the great movie _Anora_.

It is an undisputed fact that NYC Russians are crazy for sushi; I’m sure the density of sushi restaurants is highest in Russian neighborhoods.

There’s an old-line bar on Sheepshead Bay Road (Irish, maybe?) with a sign in the window that seems to express a frosty attitude toward some of its neighbors.

We browsed inside a big Sheepshead Bay gourmet-ish grocery store that stocks lots of foods appealing to former-USSR tastes.

I worked my way across two walls of teas, getting more and more gloomy at the hundreds of varieties of teabags.

Until! They have sooo many varieties of Turkish loose leaf teas, even some Azeri teas. I wish I could tell which, if any, are actually good. Anyone know?

@tea

@babelcarp Well, these are all black teas that differ in "quality". I'd personally brew these with some Earl Grey and maybe cloves, but I guess people also just brew them alone.

Altınbaş might be the highest grade here, though I don't remember if I tried it. I think Filiz is a safe choice, that's what I remember us getting most. I got Rize not too long ago and wasn't impressed.

@lambdazai Given its name, I would assume Rize is actually grown in Turkey, right?

But the other two? I understand tea companies in Turkey often sell tea leaves harvested in Sri Lanka, right?

@babelcarp Out of the ones here only Rize is the name of a place, yes; but I'd assume all the Çaykur products to be teas harvested around the same area near Black Sea but I'm no expert. Same with the M(igros) ones for that matter, and the packages should be listing the origin.
@babelcarp @tea
I've had a bunch of Azercai teas. They have some unique ones (like with spices) that were nice
@babelcarp @tea
the Buket was nice too, if I recall
@babelcarp @tea
Regular black Azercay was nice, better than a usual shop's blacks from Sri Lanka, for example.
The Turkish one (that's under the chaikur brand) a shelf lower is about the same quality - stable good Turkish black that gives you a strong liquor

@gemelen Thanks, but there are four different Çaykur teas on the shelf. Do you know which one is the best?

(They’re all extremely cheap compared to teas I usually buy.)

@tea

@gemelen The thing that stops me from buying these teas isn’t the money, it’s the prospect of buying a half kilo each of several teas and drinking my way through them even though I don’t like them.

It feels sinful to throw out tea leaves.💔

@tea

@babelcarp @tea
IIRC I drank the fourth from the left out the Çaykur.
Also, if my understanding is correct, their teas selection is narrower from the taste perspective due to the way of the traditional brewing - a single very long brewing, with a goal of getting a strong beverage that could compete with a coffee brewed in a Turkish style, in a cezve, possibly in a sand.

@gemelen Coffee made like this?

https://www.deathwishcoffee.com/blogs/coffee-talk/turkish-sand-coffee

I imagine with tea you mean using a çaydanlik instead?

@tea

What is Turkish Sand Coffee?

Turkish Sand Coffee isn’t a coffee roast—it’s actually a brewing method that’s similar to cooking. A cup of Turkish coffee is thicker and stronger than any other brewing method. Learn how to make Turkish Coffee at home with this recipe...

Death Wish Coffee