Chifir'

Chifir' (Russian: Чифи́рь čifir' or alternatively, чифи́р čifir, without the soft sign), is a type of strong tea brewed in Russia. It is closely associated with the prison system of Russia, and is typically drunk by inmates. It has a mild psychoactive effect.^[1]

Etymology

The etymology is uncertain but is thought to come from the word "chikhir'" (чихирь) meaning a strong Caucasian wine^[2], or a Siberian word for wine that has gone off and become sour and acidic.^[3]

Preparation

Chifir' is typically prepared with either two or three tablespoons of loose tea per person (if in prison, a matchbox is often used to measure it out) poured on top of the boiled water.^[2] It is brewed for 10-15 minutes without stirring - until the leaves drop to the bottom of the cup. It is then drunk, customarily by passing around a single cup from which each inmate takes two sips. 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. Sweets can be held in the mouth before, during or after drinking to soften the shockingly bitter taste of chifir'. ^[1]

In popular culture

• Leningrad mention chifir' in their song 'Svoboda' ('Freedom').
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn mentions it in his book The Gulag Archipelago.
• Belomorkanal have a song called Chifirok y Papirosa (Chifir' and a Cigarette) on their album Noch Pered Rasstrelom (The Night Before the Execution).
• Nicolai Lilin mentions it multiple times in his book Siberian Education.
• In Vasily Aksyonov's novel Ozhog ('The Burn'), the convict Shilo make 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.
• Leo Tolstoy in his work The Cossacks uses чихирь to denote both the Causasian wine itself and the youthfulness of the wine, meaning "green wine" as he has it.
• Jules Verne's book In Search of the Castaways mentions Australian tea similar to chifir' (a quart of water, in which half a pound of tea had been boiled four hours).

See also

• Sa'idi tea, a somewhat similar beverage (essentially a 1/9-strength recipe, but consumed in larger quantities) drunk in Upper Egypt and among Sa'idi people elsewhere.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Чай, чифирь, купец (Russian)
2. ^ ^{a b} Чай и чифирь в тюрьме (Russian)
3. ^ Чифирь (Russian)