Turkish Coffee, Nescafe and Tea.

Back from a trip south. Antalya. One of the prime destinations for sun worshipping Russians. This resort town has become the source of a great deal of folklore for young Turkish men. This is where one of them, or their brother, or their brother’s friend at some point had an encounter with a sexually available Russian girl and told all. These Russian ladies, have an effective stranglehold on the imagination of young Turkish men. Why? They are blonde. They are tall. They wear revealing clothing. Bottom line, they are easier than Turkish women who aren’t usually very tall, typically brunette’s and quite a bit more traditional. At least that’s the story. I have yet to meet a man who has had an encounter with these mythical easy Russian girls. We shall see. This is but one strand of the tangled relationship men and women have here in Turkey. Perhaps it isn’t any less tangled than what goes on in Canada on the surface but it’s certainly different. It’s important to point out though, at their core, Turkish men are just as traditional as the women. This I’ve tested gently. More on this for another time.

The “Fiesta Bar” at the resort we stayed at had an espresso machine. “Jackpot!” I thought! Finally a decent coffee! After dinner we hurried over and ordered 2 cappuccinos. The bartender dutifully proceeded to press the button on the Nescafe automatic coffee machine. That’s right, Nescafe.  It turns out; the espresso machine wasn’t at all in use and hadn’t been used for some time. What gives?

Turks apparently where the first to actually process coffee beans as a drink. We would be going back now 5 or 6 hundred years for that one. Look it up. The person who told me that though said it was due to trade with the Ethiopians. Hard to believe the Ethiopians didn’t show Turks how to drink coffee.  Anyways the Ottoman Empire embraced coffee as their own and when they were subsequently driven out of Vienna they left a few bags of beans behind. From this, the Vienna coffee house was born. Turks are partly responsible for the current popularity of the drink no doubt. It just isn’t that popular with them.

Surprised? I was. Turkish coffee heated in a pot (traditionally over coals) then served in tiny cups and sipped in small doses is easily found and widely available. “The Café” as a Canadian would know it, is in fact a very recent fixture on the Turkish scene. Starbucks arrived on Turkish shores, specifically Istanbul in 2002 and have largely been responsible for the sprouting of local chains in response. Say what you like about Starbucks, they effectively raised the stakes on coffee here in Turkey. Filtered coffee, as it’s called here, was an unknown quantity and remains so for most folks. I served some at a breakfast I hosted recently and was asked “can I put milk in it??”A guest was also worried I wouldn’t have Nescafe. Yes Nescafe.

Turkey was a closed economy until the mid 1980’s. What exactly did this mean?? Things foreign where not allowed in. Domestic industrial development was favoured. Those of us old enough to recall the Cold War will remember a time when stories about arriving in the Soviet Union with blue jeans would make you a hero in the eyes of a local. I went to Cuba and gave some perfume samples to my tour operator who may have been made the happiest woman in the world by this simple gesture. This was effectively the state of things in Turkey for some time where a great pleasure was an innocent pleasure. Nescafe somehow, elevated itself to one such commodity where it was smuggled into the country, kept under the counter and sold with a whisper for three times the price.  When the economic reforms finally took hold and Nescafe was on the shelves legitimately the damage was done. Nescafe had successfully captured a space in the Turkish imagination just like those Russian girls vacationing in Antalya. Nescafe, or Nestle managed to effectively market it for the refined     taste. People bought in. The stuff initially wasn’t cheap either and had the cachet of being from away. You want to be ordinary, have a traditional Turkish coffee. You want to stand out, offer your guests Nescafe.

Interesting when a culture some how convinces itself something awful is actually something good. Canadians know a thing or two about this. The Nescafe phenomenon here in Turkey reminded me completely of Tim Horton’s. How did Tim Horton’s become viewed as the provider of an exceptional cup of coffee? Once, 7 years ago, I said out loud in front of other people that I didn’t like Diana Krall. Oh The looks on their faces! I never got invited to their parties again. Maybe things are just good because so many people say they're good.  A friend of mine said a few years back  ”people like things that are shit. Just look at how long M*A*S*H was on T.V. “ Indeed. Chacun à son goût.


Tea is unquestionably King and absolutely something no Turk would do without. Turks drink an amazing amount of tea. It can be bought just about anywhere and is consumed with or after every meal. Street vendors and truck drivers have portable propane burners so they can prepare tea while on the job. Sit on a park bench in Istanbul and you can be approached and sold a glass of tea. There are tea gardens “Çay Baçhesi” places built just for serving tea and socializing. Many of them are situated near the sea or other places with beautiful views. Pastry shops have historically occupied the role of café but served tea instead. They are still all over town. (One pleasant surprise has been what excellent bakers Turks are.) I have yet to pay more than 1.50 Lira for a glass of tea which means the drink remains widely accessible for just about everyone. 

Brewing tea here is quite different than what Canadians would be accustomed to. Milk is never served and not even thought about. Tea here is about colour and strength. To prepare a proper Turkish tea one requires a double boiler teapot. The bottom pot bears the hot water, the top the brewed tea. It is usually kept on the stove to stay hot. The brewed tea is remarkably strong by itself. 4 tea bags where used in a smallish pot in four fingers of water for 5 people. To serve, pour a small amount of brewed tea in the bottom of the glass (almost always glass. How else to judge strength and quality?) Then add the hot water from the other pot to adjust strength. A host will come to the table with both pots in hand and serve accordingly. It is entirely appropriate to send tea back in a restaurant that is too dark for your tastes or too light. You know you’ve got a lazy host and a crappy glass of tea if it’s cloudy. This means, rather than bothering to brew more tea, your host has simply added water to the already used tea leaves. Very bad form! It is also quite important to change the glass after multiple uses. It gets smudged after all.  Tea glasses tend to be smaller than in Canada. The idea behind that is your tea doesn’t have a chance to get cold with smaller servings. Good restaurants don’t charge for tea after a meal. If they do it costs them in the tip. Sugar cubes almost always accompany a glass of tea. I’ve seen people drop three cubes into one little glass.  Some places, Like Konya in Anatolia, produce very hard sugar. The people there are known to keep a piece of sugar inside their cheek while they sip tea that will melt the sugar slowly.

Coffee will be second banana to tea for the foreseeable future.  That being said, the Starbucks on Baghdad Street has been recognized as one of the top grossing stores in all of the Starbucks Empire. The place is huge and packed all the time. Other local chains are also able to boast similar success. The café is hot right now in Istanbul. They are a good fit for a city full of young people and the long patio season. The nightlife has a killer vibe because of them.

My favourite story about Turkish coffee is the role it can play in a traditional marriage proposal. When a man wishes to marry a woman, its expected that he go to the family and ask the father for the young woman’s hand.  The family sits together at the table with the suitor and the would-be bride serves Turkish coffee. If the suitor’s coffee is salty, he knows he’s got no chance and is spared the embarrassment of getting shot down. If his coffee is sweet, he’s in.