In our country, long renowned for its tea and hospitality, Rize Tea officially received its Geographical Indication (GI) registration in 2021.

According to historian Murat Bardakçı, tea first entered our country in the late 19th century through a few shops in Istanbul importing small quantities. In 1879, Hacı Mehmed İzzet Efendi’s book 'Çay Risalesi' (The Tea Treatise) was published in Istanbul. Furthermore, the first archival document regarding tea cultivation in the Ottoman Empire, subsequently discovered in the Ottoman Archives, states that the first seeds were brought from Japan.

In his work 'Fevakihü’l–Cülesâ,' Abdül’l-Kayyûm Nâsırî—a Kazan Tatar linguist and reformer—narrates that the 12th-century Turkic poet Hodja Ahmed Yassawi was the first Turk to drink tea. Nâsırî further shares that Yassawi, while a guest at a Turkmen neighbor's house, felt his fatigue vanish after drinking the hot tea and prayed, 'Give this to your sick so they may find healing.'

According to the official website of the Rize District Governorate, our country's introduction to tea began in 1787 with the planting of tea seeds brought from Japan. Although the initial cultivation efforts took place around Bursa, they were unsuccessful due to unfavorable climatic conditions. However, following the technical studies conducted in 1917 by Ali Rıza Erten—a botanist and the deputy director of the Halkalı Higher School of Agriculture at the time—parliamentary approval was secured on February 16, 1924, for tea cultivation in Rize, laying the foundations for contemporary tea production.

Our country’s production zones are the only tea-growing regions in the world to receive snowfall. Since the tea plantations on high slopes remain under snow during winter, pests and bacteria cannot survive; consequently, there is no need for any pesticide use in production.

However, for one reason or another, RIZE TEA was only able to secure its Geographical Indication registration in 2021. As stipulated in the registration certificate, Rize Tea must be transported to processing facilities immediately after harvesting and processed within a very short timeframe. Otherwise, the tea leaves risk losing their distinctive characteristics and quality.

Rize Tea, a central theme in advertisements and a symbol of hospitality through which many tourists define our country, has been protected by registration since 2021. With its EU registration application filed on January 5, 2023, Rize Tea is now poised for official recognition within the European Union, bringing both its name and its rich cultural heritage to the global stage.