Turkish Tea Brands: Which to Buy, Prices and How to Brew
Çaykur, Doğuş, Ofçay or Lipton? Real pack photos, prices per 100 g and a çaydanlık calculator for the right dose on your table.
Table of Contents
Watch the video0:40Watch with transcript · Videos
In this video
- 0:03Lipton Yellow Label
- 0:08Çaykur Altınbaş
- 0:13Çaykur Filiz
- 0:18Doğuş Karadeniz
- 0:23Çaykur Rize Turist
- 0:28How to brew it
- 0:32Price per 100 g
Read the video transcript
Five Turkish teas to know, with prices per 100 grams from the makers’ own shops, checked on 10 October 2026. Number 5: Lipton Yellow Label, teapot bags, 48 to a box. These are the bags most cafés and offices use; one bag brews several glasses. Number 4: Çaykur Altınbaş. Loose tea, 500 grams, 52.20 lira per 100 grams. It is made from the top bud and two young leaves, for a brisk glass. Number 3: Çaykur Filiz. Loose, one kilo, 43.60 lira per 100 grams. A soft blend with a high share of young leaves, for a calm evening glass. Number 2: Doğuş Karadeniz, the plain black tea of the best-known private maker. Loose, one kilo, 40 lira per 100 grams. Number 1: Çaykur Rize Turist, the everyday black tea of Turkish family tables. Loose, one kilo, 40.90 lira per 100 grams. Start here. To brew Rize Turist, use two teaspoons per glass and 13 to 15 minutes on a low heat. Then ask for açık for a lighter glass, demli for a stronger one, or tavşan kanı, the clear deep red most people aim for. Per 100 grams: Altınbaş costs 52.20 lira, Filiz 43.60, Rize Turist 40.90 and Doğuş Karadeniz 40 lira. All nine packs, how to read the label and a brew calculator are in the full guide on turkpidya.com.
For your first pack, take a plain black loose tea: Çaykur Rize Turist, Çaykur Tiryaki or Doğuş Karadeniz. The Rize Turist pack asks for 2 teaspoons per glass and 13–15 minutes on a low heat. Pour the strong brew from the top pot, top it up with hot water from the bottom one, and the colour is yours.
One glass, three decisions
Pick a pack. Brew it. Top it up your way.
- Pack: start with a plain black loose blend from Çaykur or Doğuş.
- Pot: for Rize Turist, 2 teaspoons per glass and 13–15 minutes on a low heat.
- Colour: ask for açık (lighter) or demli (stronger).
Everyday 1 kg packs on this shelf: 40.00–40.90 TL per 100 g at the makers’ own shops, checked 10 October 2026.
Turkish tea brands, pack by pack
Four names fill most Turkish tea shelves. Çaykur is the state tea company of Rize and makes the widest range, from cheap everyday blends to gift tins. Doğuş Çay is the best-known private name next to it. Ofçay passed from JDE Peet’s to Efor Holding in 2025, and Lipton sells the yellow bags made for the teapot.
Çaykur
Rize Turist, Tiryaki and Filiz are its everyday packs. Çaykur says it can process 9,250 tonnes of fresh leaf a day.
Doğuş Çay
Karadeniz is its plain black everyday blend: 400.00 TL for 1 kg in its own shop.
Ofçay
Efor Holding took it over when it bought JDE Peet’s tea business in Turkey. It has its own loose and teapot ranges.
Lipton
The bags most cafés and offices use. One bag brews several glasses, with Lipton’s own recipe.
Start with “Everyday”: three plain blends side by side, with weight and price. Tap a pack to read what its maker says about it and to send it to the teapot calculator further down.
Which tea goes on your table?
Loose
Çaykur Rize Turist
The everyday black tea of family tables. Çaykur calls it an economical blend with a familiar aroma.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 1,000 g
- Price
- 409.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 40.90 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Loose
Çaykur Tiryaki
A blend for drinking all day. Çaykur describes a smooth glass with a balanced brew.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 1,000 g
- Price
- 400.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 40.00 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Loose
Doğuş Karadeniz
Doğuş’s plain black loose tea, Karadeniz’in Siyah Çayı. An easy first pack for every day.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 1,000 g
- Price
- 400.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 40.00 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: satis.doguscay.com.tr
Loose
Çaykur Filiz
A soft blend with a high share of young leaves, in Çaykur’s words. A calm evening glass.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 1,000 g
- Price
- 436.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 43.60 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Loose
Çaykur Altınbaş
The top bud and two young leaves. Çaykur stresses briskness and a full aroma: try it next to the softer Filiz.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 500 g
- Price
- 261.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 52.20 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Loose · tin
Çaykur Tomurcuk
Black tea with bergamot, made for mixing. Add a little to your everyday blend until you like the scent.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 125 g
- Price
- 111.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 88.80 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Loose · tin
Çaykur Organik Hemşin
Organic tea from the Hemşin area in a metal tin. Çaykur’s page for this range names its IMO certification.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 400 g
- Price
- 424.50 TL
- Per 100 g
- 106.13 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Loose · box
Çaykur 42 Nolu Tirebolu
Leaf from high gardens in the west of the Eastern Black Sea. A regional tea in a card box.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 500 g
- Price
- 240.00 TL
- Per 100 g
- 48.00 TL
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: caykursatis.com
Teapot bags
Lipton Yellow Label
Bags for the pot, with leaf from the Eastern Black Sea and Kenya. Yellow Label has its own recipe per glass.
Work out the brew- Pack
- 153 g · 48 bags
- Price
- Enter your pack’s price in the calculator
- Checked
- 10 October 2026
Pack photo: lipton.com/tr
Filiz or Tiryaki? Filiz is the softer one, made with more young leaves; Tiryaki is Çaykur’s all-day blend. Altınbaş sits at the brisk end, so brew it next to Filiz once and keep the one you go back to. Tomurcuk is not meant to be drunk on its own: Çaykur makes it to be mixed into plain tea for a bergamot note.
Read the maker as well as the name. Tiryaki is sold by both Çaykur and Ofçay, and Çaykur’s “42 Nolu Tirebolu” is a different product from the Tirebolu 42 brand. For a present, compare the Tirebolu box with the Organik Hemşin tin and take whichever travels better in your bag.
What the pack says
Find the format and the net weight first. Dökme means loose tea, demlik poşet is a bag for the teapot and bardak poşet a bag for the glass. Then read the ingredients and the maker’s name. Turn the pack over: the lines you need are often on the side or the back.
A sample label to practise on.
- 1Siyah çay: Black tea. The kind of tea. Look in the ingredients for any flavouring.
- 2Harman: Blend. A mix of teas; the product page says more.
- 3Net miktar: Net weight. The weight of the tea itself. Compare prices with it.
- 4Demlik poşet / Bardak poşet: Bag type. For the teapot / for the glass.
- 5Son tüketim tarihi: Use by. Some packs print Tavsiye edilen tüketim tarihi instead: best before.
- 6Üretici: Maker. The company name next to the brand.
Three formats
Loose tea is easy to measure with a spoon and is poured through a strainer. Teapot bags make cleaning up easier: lift them out once the tea has brewed. A glass bag goes straight into the glass for the time on the box. On a big box of bags, look for two lines: how many bags and how many grams. Price per gram goes by weight.
Leaf for the pot
Measure the dry tea, brew it and pour through a strainer.
Bag for the pot
Check how many glasses a bag makes and the weight on the box.
Bag for the glass
Pour the water into the glass; take the time from the pack.
At a tea garden, the strength is all you need to say. Açık asks for a lighter glass, demli for a stronger one. Tavşan kanı, literally “rabbit’s blood”, is the clear deep red most people aim for. Show a phrase large on your screen or hear it in Turkish.
Bir çay, lütfen.
beer chai, lewt-fen
One tea, please.
Açık olsun.
ah-chuk ol-soon
A light one, please.
Demli olsun.
dem-lee ol-soon
A strong one, please.
Şekersiz.
sheh-ker-seez
No sugar.
Tavşan kanı.
tav-shan kah-nuh
Clear, deep red tea.
Bir kilo Rize Turist.
beer kee-lo ree-zeh too-reest
A kilo of Rize Turist.
How much goes in the çaydanlık
Pick your tea and the number of glasses. For Rize Turist the calculator uses the pack’s 2 teaspoons per glass and 13–15 minutes; for Yellow Label it switches to bags and Lipton’s recipe. The strength buttons change the colour in the glasses: how much brew you pour into each glass is up to you.
Your table, your teapot
From the pack to the first glass
Cost per glass assumes 300–400 glasses from a kilo: change it if yours differs.
Your glasses per kilo
Worked example: Rize Turist, 6 glasses, pack price 409.00 TL.
| Dose from the pack | 12 teaspoons |
|---|---|
| Time from the pack | 13–15 minutes |
| Cost of the brew | 6.14–8.18 TL |
| Cost per glass | 1.02–1.36 TL |
| The pack lasts | 50–66 days |
- Boil the water belowFill the bottom pot with fresh drinking water and bring it to the boil.
- Set the tea on topMeasure the tea by the pack into the top pot. For Yellow Label bags, use the water in tea glasses from the calculator.
- Steep, then pourTurn the heat down. When the timer ends, pour brew into the glass and top it up with hot water to taste.
Makers have their own habits. Doğuş warms the empty top pot over the bottom one, then adds the water and the tea. For Yellow Label you take one tea glass of water per bag and one more for the pot. Follow your own pack’s recipe. The Rize Turist instructions also say to drink a brew within 30 minutes, so make a fresh one for the next round.
Tea is an invitation
Take the glass and stay for the talk. In Turkey tea links the home table, the shop counter and the tea garden. A small glass gives you time to pause, talk and have another. When you have had enough, thank your host. At your own table, serve the brew and the hot water separately so guests can choose their own colour. For the customs, the words at the table and how tea reached Rize, read Tea culture in Turkey.
One more glass
Tea is offered, not ordered. Sit down while it is hot, and the glass is filled again until you say stop.
In 2022 UNESCO added the tea culture of Azerbaijan and Türkiye to its list of intangible cultural heritage, as a symbol of identity, hospitality and social interaction.
Çay culture at UNESCOGood tea starts with the pack and carries on with the conversation.
Price per 100 grams
Compare the price per 100 g, so a kilo bag and a small tin sit on one scale. These are the prices in Çaykur’s and Doğuş’s own online shops on 10 October 2026. Filter by taste, search a name, or sort the cheapest to the top.
Makers’ shops · 10 October 2026
Same weight, fair comparison.
Shop price before delivery · per 100 g in the last column
| Tea | Pack | Price | Per kg | Shop | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Çaykur Rize Turist Loose | 1,000 g | 409.00 TL | 409.00 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 40.90 TL |
| Çaykur Tiryaki Loose | 1,000 g | 400.00 TL | 400.00 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 40.00 TL |
| Doğuş Karadeniz Loose | 1,000 g | 400.00 TL | 400.00 TL per kg | satis.doguscay.com.tr | 40.00 TL |
| Çaykur Filiz Loose | 1,000 g | 436.00 TL | 436.00 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 43.60 TL |
| Çaykur Altınbaş Loose | 500 g | 261.00 TL | 522.00 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 52.20 TL |
| Çaykur Tomurcuk Loose · tin | 125 g | 111.00 TL | 888.00 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 88.80 TL |
| Çaykur Organik Hemşin Loose · tin | 400 g | 424.50 TL | 1,061.25 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 106.13 TL |
| Çaykur 42 Nolu Tirebolu Loose · box | 500 g | 240.00 TL | 480.00 TL per kg | caykursatis.com | 48.00 TL |
Everyday 1 kg packs of Rize Turist, Tiryaki and Doğuş Karadeniz cost 40.00–40.90 TL per 100 g here. A small gift tin costs more by weight: Organik Hemşin comes to 106.13 TL for the same 100 g. Decide what you need now, a stock of everyday tea or one present.
Buying outside Turkey? Add delivery to the pack price and divide by the weight, then compare the result with the Turkish shelf using today’s lira exchange rates. Turkish and Middle Eastern grocers usually stock Çaykur and Doğuş in the same 1 kg bags.
Before you buy
Check five lines on the pack and take a photo of the one you like, so you can find the same blend next time. Start with the maker, then the flavour, format, weight and date. They matter more than the colour of the bag.
Ready to buy this pack?
All checked. Photograph the name and brew it at home.
At home, close the pack tightly and keep it somewhere dry and cool, away from spices, coffee and other strong smells: tea takes them on and the blend loses its aroma.
Quick answers
What is the best Turkish tea brand?
There is no single best. Most homes drink a plain black blend from Çaykur or Doğuş: Rize Turist, Tiryaki and Doğuş Karadeniz cost 40.00–40.90 TL per 100 g in the makers’ shops. For a softer glass, try Çaykur Filiz.
Is Çaykur owned by the state?
Yes. Çaykur is Turkey’s state tea company, based in Rize. It says it can process 9,250 tonnes of fresh leaf a day.
Who owns Ofçay now?
Efor Holding. JDE Peet’s reported on 8 May 2025 that it had sold its tea business in Turkey to Efor Holding.
How much tea per glass?
The Rize Turist pack says 2 teaspoons per glass and 13–15 minutes on a low heat. Lipton Yellow Label uses one teapot bag for 3 glasses and 15–20 minutes.
Can I buy Turkish tea outside Turkey?
Yes, in Turkish and Middle Eastern grocers and online. Add delivery to the pack price and divide by the weight to compare it with the Turkish shelf.
Sources
Pack descriptions, photos and prices come from the makers’ own shop pages, checked 10 October 2026. Each brewing recipe belongs to the product it names.
- Çaykur Rize Turist: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Çaykur Tiryaki: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Doğuş Karadeniz: pack, description and price — satis.doguscay.com.tr, checked 10 October 2026
- Çaykur Filiz: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Çaykur Altınbaş: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Çaykur Tomurcuk: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Çaykur Organik Hemşin: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Çaykur 42 Nolu Tirebolu: pack, description and price — caykursatis.com, checked 10 October 2026
- Lipton Yellow Label: pack, description — lipton.com/tr, checked 10 October 2026
- Rize Turist brewing instructions (pack text) — Migros, supplier information, checked 10 October 2026
- Yellow Label: glasses and water per teapot bag — Lipton, checked 10 October 2026
- Tea culture and brewing method — Doğuş Çay, checked 10 October 2026
- Tea storage and the three formats — Lipton, checked 10 October 2026
- About Çaykur: fresh-leaf processing capacity — Çaykur, checked 10 October 2026
- JDE Peet’s on track to achieve 2025 outlook with solid Q1 progress; Rob de Groot proposed for appointment to JDE Peet’s Board. — JDE Peet’s, 8 May 2025, checked 20 October 2026
- Ofçay ranges — Ofçay, checked 10 October 2026
- Culture of Çay (tea), a symbol of identity, hospitality and social interaction — UNESCO, checked 10 October 2026
- UNESCO Somut Olmayan Kültürel Miras Listelerinde Türkiye — Ministry of Culture and Tourism, checked 20 October 2026
