This is a translation of the post by Girl of the Sands, that originally appeared on the russian version of neweurasia.

So, my first post will be about how people drink tea in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistani people drink tea a lot, all the time, and for long periods of time – with emotion, with appreciation, and with a precise sense of order. At one sitting a person can drink from one to five pots, although the size of the pot can vary – from very little to very big. In café-chayhanas and in other public and private serving places, the first thing that is ordered is tea and lepyoshka (flat round bread).

People talk about a variety of topics while drinking tea . The conversations are usually long and traditional. A conversation without tea is not a conversation at all. When you come to an Uzbek house (if, of course, you not from the tax office, though even if you are from there, there is still a 50/50 chance that they will unambiguously offer you tea at once, as it is one of the ways of expressing respect - and of course there will be different candies and nuts on the table, the usual gentlemen’s set, as well as very small pialas, a vessel into which you pour a tea. Why small? There is a reason, as the more you pour tea to the man, the more you respect him. Therefore, usually very little tea is poured into pialas, just on the bottom. And of course you ceremoniously have to pass your piala to the host, hostess or youngest kelin (daughter-in-law) three hundred times, and they have to pour you tea three hundred times. We have such habitual phrases that frequently can be heard: “Pour me tea without respect or pour me tea in Russian way,” which in translation means: “Pour me a full piala/cup/basin of tea.”

Making tea is a quite another story. First, you have to make kaitar with the fresh-boiled tea (it is almost a harakiri) - i.e. tea is poured out three times to piala and back into the pot three times. This helps the tea to be brewed quicker. There is an Uzbek saying “loi-moi-choi”, which means the first kaitar is clay, the second is dirt, and the third you may drink because it is finally tea. Then the teapot is covered with a special cloth that also helps the tea get brewed, but is optional. However, some do not wait for the tea to be brewed, and instead barbarically pour and drink it. Others (it is terrible even to tell) do not perform kaitar at all! There is a saying in Uzbek folk about ­kaitar - “kaitar dunyo,â€? which means “History can repeat itself.” In any case, the tea should be in freshly boiled and brewed. Tea that’s older than half a day is not considered tea any more.

Further, we hold the piala only on the bottom - never at the edges. It is pure disrespect to hold it on the edges, because then the man will not want touch these edges to his lips. We pour tea into piala, very little. Then we swirl it in the piala and pour it out. There should be a separate piala for this purpose, though usually people pour the rinsed tea on the ground or anywhere they can. It means that you are showing your respect again by washing the piala and making sure that it is clean.

Only after this ritual can you pour again a very little bit of tea. This time it is passed to the guest (this “little tea� is a bit more than the previous “little tea� that was for swirling). When you pass tea make sure that you take the piala on the bottom with your right hand and your left hand should hold your right hand at the elbow. It is like you are helping yourself.

Who pours tea? There are a range of variants. If the guest is a VIP, then the husband/leader of the family pours the tea, while the wife usually pours tea to friends who are not VIP guests, as well as neighbors. If the family has a kelin (daughter-in-law), it is absolutely 100% the case  that she pours tea to everyone, including little kids (and if there are many kelins in the house, of course the youngest is in change of serving tea). There are jokes about being the youngest kelin, like, “who is the youngest kelin today?” i.e. who is in charge serving others at the table.

The tea and tea-drinking process are not just simple acts of slaking your thirst. The tea carries out different functions, e.g. of being a “social communicator,” as any conversation, whether it takes place at home or in the office of the boss (who pours you tea himself), begins and comes to an end with tea.

PostScript:

Choi-poi means “let’s drink some tea and rest, and talk about different things.â€?