Talk:Chifir

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The "Preparation" portion of this article is somewhat confusing.

How much water is boiled? What is the approximate ratio of water to tea leaves?

It states that "two or three tablespoons of loose tea" are used "per person", and each person takes "two sips", so are we talking "two sips" worth of water per two to three tablespoons of tea leaves? IE, this would be approximately the same volume of tea leaves to water in ratio... So then a measure of loose tea leaves would be added into an equal measure of boiling water? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.111.244.69 (talk • contribs) 09:12, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Accuracy of this article
Having read through a translation of one of the sources (#1), I don't see it as an authoritative one; much of it seems to be based upon hearsay, and the article repeats that tendency. One example is "Chifir' is drunk without sugar, because it amplifies the effect to the point of being highly unpleasant (intense headaches and tachycardia) and can possibly lead to a cardiac arrest in case of a large overdose by someone with a weak heart".
 * There's no mention of the substances in the tea that make it so. Presumably, it's the high caffeine and tannin content.  None of the references I have found give a verifiable account of a heart attack being caused; it's quite possible that the "victim" of one would actually be suffering from indigestion brought on by drinking Chifir'.
 * I'm uneasy about the claim that Chifir' is drunk without sugar to make it even more unpleasant, give intense headaches and to increase the risk of cardiac arrest. Unless drinking it is a rite of passage, but there's no mention of that.
 * There is nothing to support the suggestion about cardiac arrest. Instead, we might reasonably conclude that, because the tea is so strong, and the tannin content of it therefore extremely high, anybody who drinks a large quantity of it is likely to suffer severe indigestion - the kind of indigestion that has frequently been mistaken for a heart attack.

For those reasons, the article's not accurate and contains what is essentially a mythical kind of folklore. I think it should be rewritten. Twistlethrop (talk) 18:52, 2 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi, I agree with you. The 'without sugar' bit seems implausible, Russians love sugar in their tea, or jam. A 'heart attack' sounds absurd as well. I'd suggest you remove those bits :) Malick78 (talk) 22:21, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
 * It's not a tea it's boiled so much that caffeine breaks down and the leaves start to actually pour adenine and guanine into the water. You don't add anything into it because it's a drug substitue not a tea, not sugar and especially not milk.--109.73.3.59 (talk) 04:43, 28 June 2018 (UTC)


 * A little late, but I've edited the section. The "without sugar" part I've left, but removed the unsubstantiated mention of physical effects upon drinkers ( and "shockingly" ), to bring it more in line with the above. Twistlethrop (talk) 15:29, 6 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Much better now :) Would have done it myself if I knew you'd take so long ;) Malick78 (talk) 16:56, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Life sometimes gets in the way of the internet ;) Twistlethrop (talk) 01:07, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

EVERYTHING about this article is hearsay; All you're making is concentrated tea, which is only dangerous if you ingest an excessive amount. As for the taste and/or use of sugar, this preparation method for tea actually produces a tea which is as bitter as normal tea steeping. Anyone who says it's excessively bitter is either using excessively bitter leaves or has little tolerance for bitter flavor to begin with. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.170.90.1 (talk) 17:18, 4 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Maybe so, maybe not. My own thoughts on the use of "5-8 tablespoons of loose tea ... per person"?   There are 3 teaspoons in 1 tablespoon of half an ounce.  So there will be about 15-24 teaspoons, or about 2½-4 ounces for each person.

That could be as much as a full box of tea (quarter pound) by UK standards of loose tea, or up to a whole box per person per cup. The only saving grace is the preparation; if it was made by pouring boiling water over the tea leaves, the strength would be much higher than what most would say was a strong cup of tea unless it was decanted almost immediately. It has nothing to do with a low tolerance for the "bitterness" unless the drinker is used to drinking the kind of tea that is water with a dash of milk, only a hint of a slight tint and all the flavor and strength of slightly dirty water. 2602:304:AF2A:1219:3842:7340:F785:AABA (talk) 08:10, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Zavarka?
Anyone know if there is a clear distinction between Chifir and Zavarka (currently redirects to Samovar), the concentrated tea brewed atop a samovar and diluted with water to make standard Russian tea? In previous descriptions of how to use a samovar, I've heard drinking the Zavarka undiluted referred to as something done in gulag/katorga to try and induce an intoxicated state. Sounds like Chifir is perhaps an alternate name for zavarka that originated in the Caucus region and spread to the work camps. --Spasemunki (talk) 20:42, 24 September 2012 (UTC)
 * zavarka is the contains of the small teapot, you pour dry tea, you then pour hot water and let it soak. it's the usual two phase tea drinking, probably made to not waste expensive leaves. chifir is when you boil the leaves several times, letting the water run away with steam to make it very concentrated and during the process tein (coffein) breaks down. that's why it's not a tea --109.73.3.59 (talk) 04:39, 28 June 2018 (UTC)

Stop being amateur, Wikipedia
Chifir with sugar will kill your heart. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.202.51.152 (talk) 17:42, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

And so will bacon or marshmallows. Eventually. There's nothing amateur about it. 2602:304:AF2A:1219:3842:7340:F785:AABA (talk) 08:16, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Etymology, links etc
The first link prior to my edit of today was dead so I removed it. The second link described the nature of the tea used to make Chifir so I added that information to the section.

This article still has a tendency that makes me think some feel that a drink is better by being bad, so get all puffed up about it. Weird.2602:304:AF2A:1219:3842:7340:F785:AABA (talk) 08:32, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Requested move 31 August 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Moved to Chifir. No such user (talk) 13:54, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

Chifir' → Chifir – Romanization of Russian discourages the use of any character to transliterate the soft sign (ь). WP:USEENGLISH encourages standardized transliteration. A cursory web search indicates that this sign is not used in Anglicization. Ibadibam (talk) 22:13, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
 * support. Staszek Lem (talk) 23:58, 31 August 2018 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.