A cup for the guest
In an Iranian home, tea is typically the first thing offered to a guest. Guests are served first and generously, and the host serves themselves last. Strong tea brewed in a small teapot sits on top of a samovar, and each glass is topped up with hot water to taste.
Sugar and ta'arof
Many Iranians drink tea with a sugar lump held in the mouth, or with nabat, rock candy, often flavored with saffron. And a polite guest declines a second cup until it is offered three times. Leaving a little in the glass is polite too, since an empty glass can suggest the host was stingy. This is ta’arof, the Persian art of courteous insistence.
The tea gardens of Gilan
Iran is one of the world’s major tea producers, and the tea is grown in the green hills of the north, near the Caspian Sea. The plantations around Lahijan, in Gilan, are among the best known.
