The History of Tea in Iran

Tea is woven into everyday hospitality in Iran, from breakfast at home to conversations with friends. Its history also tells the story of changing trade routes, urban coffeehouses and the rise of tea farming along the Caspian coast.

Tea and coffee circulated in Iran long before local tea plantations became established. Their early history is complex, but Encyclopaedia Iranica documents how tea consumption expanded over time and eventually became a defining feature of Iranian daily life.

Coffeehouses were important social spaces in Safavid-era cities. Travelers described them as places for conversation, entertainment and the exchange of news, even as tea gradually gained a stronger place in local drinking habits.

Under Shah Abbas I, Isfahan became a major political and cultural center. The development of Naqsh-e Jahan Square was part of that transformation, while coffeehouses flourished in the wider urban culture.

The Persian term qahveh-khaneh, literally coffeehouse, survives even where tea is the usual drink. These establishments became gathering places, although their character and clientele varied across periods and locations.

Tea became increasingly familiar during the nineteenth century as imported supplies and commercial networks expanded. The transition was gradual, and it is misleading to assign a single year or cause to the shift from coffee toward tea.

How Tea Gradually Replaced Coffee

As demand grew, reliance on imported tea encouraged experiments with domestic cultivation. The decisive development came at the turn of the twentieth century, when Iranian growers began establishing tea gardens in the humid north.

Mohammad Mirza Kashef al-Saltaneh, an Iranian diplomat, studied tea cultivation during his stay in India from 1898 to 1900. He later promoted experimental planting in Gilan and Mazandaran. According to Encyclopaedia Iranica, tea was planted near Lahijan around 1902, and the number of plants there had grown substantially by 1903.

Kashef al-Saltaneh and Tea Cultivation in Gilan

Gilan is a province on the southern Caspian coast, not a city. Its humid climate helped make Lahijan a center of Iranian tea growing. The first tea-processing factory was established in 1932. Today, the National Tea Museum in Lahijan commemorates Kashef al-Saltaneh and the industry he helped develop.

Tea in Iranian Daily Life

In Iran, black tea is commonly served in small glasses, sometimes with a sugar cube (qand) or a piece of rock candy (nabat). Drinkers adjust its strength by adding hot water. Preferences vary, and milk is less typical than in some other tea-drinking cultures.

In many traditional Iranian homes, a samovar keeps water hot for brewing and serving tea. Modern kettles and teapots are also widely used, but the ritual of offering tea remains familiar.

Tea often accompanies breakfast, afternoon visits and family conversations. Offering a glass to a guest is a simple gesture of hospitality, and sharing tea provides an opportunity to linger and talk.

Tea Harvest Season in Northern Iran

Tea harvesting in the Caspian region generally begins in spring, with additional picking rounds depending on weather and growing conditions. The cultivated hills around Lahijan offer a glimpse of the work behind one of Iran’s most familiar drinks.