Lew PerinSep 9, 2025

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_.

Show threadLew PerinSep 9, 2025

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.

Show threadLew PerinSep 9, 2025

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

Show threadgemelenSep 9, 2025
@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
Show threadLew Perin

@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

Sep 9, 2025 at 3:03pmWeb
Show threadLew PerinSep 9, 2025

@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

Show threadgemelenSep 9, 2025
@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.
Show threadLew PerinSep 9, 2025

@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