THE HISTORY OF TEA IN GURIA

How Guria became a centre of tea culture — a historical chronicle.

In Guria, tea was not merely an economic crop — it became a new identity. A family that owned a tea garden was a family of status and stable income.

In the 1880s, the Chinese tea bush (Camellia sinensis) first appeared in Guria and other Colchic territories. This experiment, initiated by botanists of Tsarist Russia, astonished observers — tea developed optimally in Guria's humid, temperate climate.

The 1940s to 1970s became the golden era of Gurian tea. The Soviet tea-farming system made Chokhatauri and Ozurgeti secondary cities of tea — processing factories, laboratories, agricultural machinery — everything operated within this system.

After the collapse of the 1990s, many tea gardens fell into abandonment. However, from the 2000s a new wave began — handcraft, family-scale, organic tea brands that combine local tradition with modern market demand.

Interesting fact

Chokhatauri was one of the places from which tea produced in the Soviet Union was exported to the British market — under the name "Georgian Blend."

Historic Gurian tea harvest