Everyone who visits Azerbaijan should definitely take time to have tea at a traditional tea ceremony. Tea is the most popular drink in Azerbaijan. It’s part of the social and cultural fabric for every Azerbaijani.

While visiting any home in Azerbaijan, you will be welcomed firstly by tea. For the Azerbaijanis, serving tea at the beginning of a meal is a symbol of hospitality. Tea is often accompanied by different kind of jams, such as fig, blackberry, walnut, strawberry, apricot and other jams. For adding extra flavor tea is also spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, and other spices.

Tea serving is an important part of Azerbaijani culture. The Armudu is a traditional drinking glass made from a variety of materials, such as porcelain, stained glass and silver.  They get their name from their pear-shape, narrower in the middle and wider at the top and bottom. The shape allows the tea at the top of the glass to cool ready for drinking, while the bottom half stays hot.

The jam is served in a large bowl along with the pot of tea. If sharing with others, you spoon out a little bit of jam for yourself into a smaller glass container.

Then you simply put a small spoonful of jam in your mouth, and sip the tea through the jam. The tea itself is a simple but strong black tea, served in an armudu, a pear-shaped glass. You have your choice of a variety of jams, all made of fruit and quite thick — like preserves.

Azerbaijanis have tea any time of the day. Tea is served everywhere, and it is a part of the social lifestyle in Azerbaijan. For Azerbaijanis tea is associated with family, warmth, hospitality and friendliness therefore forget about counting the cups and enjoy the unique experience of tea ceremony in the Azerbaijan.

So, if you’re ever in Azerbaijan, do yourself a favor and order some tea .... with a jam. 

In this imaginative tour, we invite you to discover Baku from a tea perspective. Passing through the crooked streets of the timeless Old City, learn how this most celebrated of drinks came from China via the Silk Routes to become Azerbaijan’s main national beverage. En route we pop into caravanserais, hamams and hidden residential yards as you get an even better sense of Azerbaijan’s distinctive tea-based traditions. A key element of the tour is visiting three contrasting Baku “chaykhanas” (teahouses), each with their own distinctive atmosphere – medieval-oriental, modern-fusion and simple Soviet-style. Taste various types of tea (perhaps thyme, rose, clove-infused or others) served with traditional Azerbaijani sweets and a wide range of jams. 

Tour price includes:

• Professional Guide Services
• Walk along the streets of Icheri Sheher
Tea tour and tasting at Traditional Chaykhana
• Tea tour and tasting at Modern Chaykhana
• Tea tour and tasting at Soviet style Chaykhana