Cultural Blog on Persian tea houses

[Laura Major]

So I was reading in an article that tea houses, or chaikhanehs, are quite popular in Iran. Since clubs and bars are not allowed, teenages can use the tea houses as a place to kind of just chill out and relax, have some tea, and maybe a meal. At the tea houses they serve meals, tea, and hookah. The tea is generally strong and bitter so the traditional way to sweeten your cup is to put a sugar cube in your teeth and sip the tea through the cube. This way, Iranians can have multiple cups in one day. In many of these traditional tea houses your drink your tea on a rug in which you must remove your shoes. I remember that in downtown Charlottesville there is a tea house that I feel would be somewhat similar to what a Persian tea house would be like. They serve hookah, tea, and small food dishes. They have a section where you can sit on a rug if you would like and they require that you remove your shoes. It's quite a fun place! And the tea and hookah is delicious.