How did Russia come up with the idea of drinking tea ‘as a bite’ and ‘to catch up’?
Tea was brought to Russia only in the 17th century: In 1638, it was presented as a gift to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich. In the 19th century, tea became the number one beverage, not only among aristocrats and merchants, but also ordinary people.
It was hard to find a house that did not have a samovar and an potbelly tea pot. They often drank it in a special way - ‘vprikusku’ (“as a bite”). But, what does this mean?
Overseas dried leaves have long been used as medicine. This drink was not available to everyone, but only very wealthy people: for a pound of tea (a little more than 450 grams), merchants asked from two to six rubles, while 16 kilograms of rye flour cost only 35 kopecks. But, over time, tea became more affordable and a truly popular drink.
It was served with jams and breads, various candies, dried fruits and pastries. And, of course, sugar: as it was also quite expensive, people came up with an original way to prolong the pleasure. They drank tea with a piece of sugar clenched in their teeth, i.e. “as a bite”. This way, it lasted for a long time, for several cups. But, the wasteful way, when sugar was added to the cup and stirred, was called ‘vnakladku’ ("overlay"). The most enterprising, however, drank tea ‘vdogonku’ ("to catch up"): for this purpose, a piece of sugar was placed on a piece of bread and gradually shifted when taking a bite and sipping some tea, leaving it for last.
