Name: Some Russians shun coffee in favor of traditional tea
Uploaded: 2025-10-24T16:59:20.509Z
Duration: 1 min 52 s
Description: Moscow, which for decades has run on caffeine, could be rediscovering its taste for tea as some shun coffee as a Western introduction and embrace the more traditional drink.

Moscow, which for decades has run on caffeine, could be rediscovering its taste for tea as some shun coffee as a Western introduction and embrace the more traditional drink.

Moscow

In Moscow, tea houses such as Nitka are reviving traditional Russian tea culture, which had largely disappeared during the Soviet era. The founder of Nitka, Andrey Kobasinov, notes that while coffee shops were once ubiquitous, there is now a renewed interest in tea, which many Russians see as more closely tied to their national identity.

Western sanctions have complicated Russia's tea imports, leading tea houses to source more tea from China and Georgia, both of which have maintained strong economic ties with Russia. Customers at these tea houses express that tea offers a sense of warmth and home, contrasting it with coffee, which they associate with Western business culture.

Some Russians shun coffee in favor of traditional tea

A simple tea shop shows how Russia has changed over the last three and a half years while at loggerheads with the West over Ukraine. Some Russians appear to be rediscovering their taste for tea as they see coffee as a Western introduction. Andrey Kobasinov is the founder of Nitka, which runs three tea houses in Moscow and two more in other cities. The main essence of Nitka is that we are trying to revive modern Russian tea houses. Before the revolution, there used to be a lot of them in Russia, especially in Moscow. Unfortunately, they all disappeared during the Soviet time. Five years ago, there were just coffee shops everywhere. We tried to imagine how the tea houses would look had they continued existing. Nitka is sort of about restoring the future. Although a part of Nitka's tea is Russian-grown, Western sanctions against Russia have complicated the country's tea imports. Far more of the tea comes from Russia's neighbor and ally China and from Georgia, where much of the Soviet Union's tea was grown before 1991. Neither country has imposed sanctions on Russia and both have deepened economic ties with Moscow since 2022. One of the customers at the tea house said drinking tea felt more Russian. Tea has an entirely different aesthetic, different vibe, so to say. Tea is, well, it's more Russian, I guess. It has this home warmth and coziness. As for coffee, it's something about work, office, and business.

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