🏡 Gezruli Tea, located in the village of Gezruli near Chiatura in Georgia's Imereti region, is an organic, family-run tea estate founded between 2016 and 2018 by Tournike ("Toko") Shekiladze. Nestled at an altitude of 630–700 meters within a century-old mixed forest, the plantation enjoys exceptionally clean air, with no industrial pollution within a 20-kilometer radius, providing ideal conditions for producing premium-quality cultivated and wild teas.
🎓 Inspired by educational visits to China in 2018 and his first-place victory at the Yunnan Tea University competition, Toko refined his tea-making techniques and elevated the quality of Gezruli Tea. Today, visitors can enjoy handcrafted black, green, and white teas, along with a naturally caffeine-free blueberry-leaf herbal infusion made from native Vaccinium arctostaphylos. The estate spans approximately seven hectares of restored tea plantations, complemented by surrounding forest where wild tea bushes thrive, and supports up to fifteen seasonal tea pickers.
🌿 Tea Garden Walk: Begin your journey with a guided walk through the organic tea plantation, where you'll discover how tea is cultivated, learn about the estate's green, white, black, and blueberry teas, and understand why the mountain climate of Imereti creates exceptional conditions for tea cultivation. then Tea Picking & Processing Masterclasses: Experience the tea-making process firsthand by harvesting fresh tea leaves and joining interactive masterclasses that demonstrate both traditional and modern methods of producing black, green, white, and wild forest teas.
🍵 Tea Ceremony & Tasting: After exploring the production process, relax during a traditional tea ceremony and tasting session, where you'll sample a selection of Gezruli's handcrafted teas while discovering their unique aromas, flavors, and characteristics in the place where they are created. Also Tea History & Culture: Learn about the rich history of Georgian tea, the evolution of the country's tea culture, and Gezruli Tea's inspiring journey of reviving traditional tea production through sustainable organic farming.📖
🍃 Why Visit: Gezruli Tea offers an authentic journey into Georgian tea culture, far from crowded tourist destinations. Surrounded by forests and mountain landscapes, it is the perfect destination for tea lovers, nature enthusiasts, and travelers interested in sustainable organic agriculture, leaving every visitor with unforgettable memories and a deeper appreciation for Georgian tea.
🏡 Beyond the Gezruli Tea Tour: Enhance your experience by staying at the eco-friendly Guesthouse Tea Gezruli, where you can immerse yourself in nature while enjoying guided forest walks, mushroom foraging, ethnographic wine tastings featuring local wines, honey, and tea-infused chacha, as well as gastronomy tours and traditional cooking experiences prepared with fresh ingredients harvested directly from the estate.