Chifir (Russian: чифи́рь, romanized: čifir', or alternatively, чифи́р) is an exceptionally strong tea, associated with and brewed in Soviet and post-Soviet detention facilities such as gulags and prisons.
Some sources mention properties of a light drug, causing addiction.
The etymology is uncertain but is thought to come from the word chikhir' (чихирь) meaning a strong Caucasian wine, or a Siberian word for wine that has gone off and become sour and acidic.[1]
Chifir is typically prepared with 5–8 tablespoons (50–100 ml) of loose tea (or tea bags) per person poured on top of the boiled water. [citation needed] It is brewed without stirring – at least until the leaves drop to the bottom of the cup.[citation needed] During the brewing process, the leaves start to release adenine and guanine into the water, which does not happen during traditional tea-making.[citation needed] Sugar is sometimes added; the nature of the brew tends to result in a bitter flavor.[2]
It is to be carefully sipped, otherwise it may cause vomiting.[citation needed] Ultimately, making chifir involves brewing a great deal of black tea and for a long time. It may be left to brew overnight and drunk either hot or cold.
Irina Ratushinskaya describes the brewing of narcotically strong chifir as a banned activity sometimes undertaken by prisoners, in her memoir of her years as a political prisoner, Grey Is The Colour Of Hope.
InVasily Aksyonov's novel Ozhog ('The Burn'), the convict Shilo makes chifir in a tushonka tin and gives it to Tolya von Steinbock. Tolya falls into a blissful, dreamlike state, but is awake enough to overhear an escape plan being hatched.
Several characters drink chifir in The Kolyma Tales, a collection of short stories about Gulag life by former Gulag prisoner Varlam Shalamov.
InJules Verne's novel In Search of the Castaways when the heroes visit Australia, Paganel requests tea made according to local custom, and is served a drink made by boiling half a pound of tea in a litre of water for four hours. Shalamov mentions this in his aforementioned stories to demonstrate chifir' is not a new invention.
In the book series Ciaphas Cain, many characters drink a version of Chifir called Tanna.
In Tig Hague's novel Zone 22 in his early days in the Russian prison system, the author mentions Chifir specifically, is shown how to make it, and describes its effects.
Sa'idi tea, a somewhat similar beverage (essentially a weaker grade, but consumed in larger quantities) drunk in Upper Egypt and among Sa'idi people elsewhere
Zavarka, concentrated tea used in brewing tea from a Samovar
