Traveling to Istanbul...looking for tea advice.

I know these guys in Istanbul http://www.kedocay.com Although they sell mainly Chinese teas, the company itself is local and they might be able to give you some leads. The guy who runs the place – whose name now escapes me – comes across as a nice man. I have never met him but corresponded online several times.

Melez Tea is based in Istanbul, I’m not sure on their products. They don’t ship to the U.S. so I’ve never tried any.

Sadly when I was in Instanbul I wasn’t deeply into Tea. I did have lots of apple tea, and tea at the baths. I didn’t go to a teahouse but had lovely coffee and went on an epic search with friends for a place to have a glass of wine. Some Turkish wine is rather decent by the way. I did buy Turkish tea glasses though. I rather like drinking tea out of glass. I hope you have a great experience it is an amazing and interesting city.

They have beautiful, intricately decorated teapots and tea glasses — at least, they did at the Turkish restaurant I used to frequent in Montreal. Just gorgeous teaware. I’m not sure how practical any of it would be, but it was really lovely. Beyond that, I was told the standard traditional tea drink is very heavily sweetened Sri Lankan-style strong-brewed black tea. Sometimes it’s flavored with mint leaves. It wasn’t a great quality of tea, but it was nice after a garlic-y meal.

Buy loose leaf Turkish black tea, and if you can, the traditional glasses for drinking it. They aren’t expensive.

I have no answers for you, but I want to say I think it is AWESOME that you are going and I hope you have a fabulous trip! Best to you, and Godspeed!

I would look for teas in one of their famous spice markets. I’ll bet they sell tea there too.

Çaykur is one of the dominant companies that produces Turkish teas. Their goods can be found everywhere from markets to their own tea shops and stands.

Despite being a large producer, they have lines of organic and high end full leaf teas that are quite good. You might want to check out some of their products on their web page, and also see if they might have tours of their fields or facilities available. Most of all, enjoy your trip and explore! :)
http://caykur-tea.com/en/products/products.html