No insecticides whatsoever are used in Turkish tea production. This has increased the value of Turkish tea, and made it attractive as an organic agricultural product. The avoidance of insecticide use is also positive from the standpoint of environmental health. Specialists have reported that the use of insecticides in agriculture disrupts the natural chain of life, harming the beneficial insects and other organisms in the soil, air and water. In addition, these poisonous substances are harmful to humans and other living things when they enter agricultural products and the local water.

Tea holds an important place in our oral and written literature. For example, there is a lıttle rhyme:

“A holy man invented tea
Two in the morning, and one in the evening.”

Another one:

“For the pleasure-seeker
Three teas are a must
For the one seeking a cure to what ails him
Four or five are useful.”              

A rhyme about tea in Ottoman/Arabic:

“A conversation without tea
Is like a sky with no moon”,

This is still the case today! May you all have many good conversations with good tea.

Source: Mustafa Duman: Çay Kitabı, Türk Kültüründe Çay (The Tea Book: Tea in Turkish Culture),  Kitabevi Press, Istanbul, 2005, 256 p.

Note: This article appeared in the March-April 2006 issue (Vol. 6) of Ataşehir Ev Kültür.