Chifir facts for kids
Chifir (pronounced chee-FEER) is a super strong type of tea. It became well-known in special camps and prisons in the Soviet Union (a country that existed before Russia). People there would brew this tea to get a big boost of energy.
Where Does the Name Chifir Come From?
The exact origin of the word "chifir" isn't fully known. Some people think it comes from an old word, "chikhir'," which meant a strong wine from the Caucasus region. Others believe it might come from a Siberian word for wine that had gone bad and turned sour.
How to Make Chifir
Making chifir is very different from making regular tea! To make it, you use a lot of black tea leaves – usually about 5 to 8 spoonfuls for each person. You pour boiling water over the tea leaves but you don't stir it. The tea is left to brew for a long time, sometimes even overnight.
Because so much tea is used and it brews for so long, chifir becomes incredibly strong and often tastes very bitter. Sometimes, a little sugar is added to help with the taste. It's important to sip chifir slowly. If you drink it too fast, it's so strong it can make you feel unwell. Chifir can be enjoyed either hot or cold.
Chifir in Stories and Films
Chifir has appeared in many books and movies, often showing up in stories about life in tough conditions.
- In her book Grey Is The Colour Of Hope, writer Irina Ratushinskaya shared how prisoners sometimes secretly made this strong tea.
- The novel Ozhog (meaning 'The Burn') by Vasily Aksyonov features a character named Shilo who makes chifir in a tin can. Another character, Tolya, drinks it and feels very relaxed and dreamlike.
- In the movie Deadly Code, the character played by John Malkovich shows a young person how to make chifir and explains what it is.
- In the book Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, the main character, Arkady Renko, drinks chifir on a train journey with workers heading to a work camp.
- Many characters drink chifir in The Kolyma Tales. This is a collection of short stories by Varlam Shalamov, who wrote about his experiences in the Gulag camps.
- Interestingly, in Jules Verne's old novel In Search of the Castaways, characters in Australia are served a very strong tea made by boiling a lot of tea leaves for hours. This shows that making super strong tea like chifir isn't a totally new idea!
