Choy

Tea arrived via the Silk Road, carried into Central Asia by Sogdian merchants during the Tang era; the region first met tea in the mid-8th century but only adopted it as an everyday national drink in the 18th-19th centuries. Uzbekistan settled on green tea (kok choy) as the primary type, distinct from the Russian-influenced black-tea-with-sugar habit. The distinctive brewing, pouring and guest-serving etiquette took shape over the 19th century, with teahouse tea-drinking becoming codified custom by the early 20th.

Bukhara's Lyab-i Hauz chaykhana has served continuous tea since 1620, the oldest in Central Asia. The pour-half rule means the cup is always warm and the topping-up is the host's wordless 'welcome stay' — refusing means rising to leave.

Pale jade-yellow in the bowl, no milk, no sugar (modern Tashkent black-tea drinkers add sugar; older drinkers do not). Grassy bitter green tea cuts through plov fat; the host fills the piala only half-full — the honored guest gets the least, and the gap invites the guest to ask for more, letting the host show hospitality again.

Green tea brewed in a chiynak (small teapot) — water at ~85°C, leaves at 3 g per 200 ml, 2 minutes. The kaytar pour-back ritual: tea is poured into a piala and returned to the pot, repeated three times, and served on the fourth pour. This blends and strengthens the brew so it pours evenly.