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Calling Turkish coffee “just a drink” is below that. It is a ritual, a conversation, and undoubtedly, as an ancestor of all modern coffee, it is nearly 500 years of history, and is engraved on the human list of its intangible cultural heritage.
The coffee roots are back. Lani Kingston, an adjunct professor at Portland State University, says a single coffee bean that dated since the 12th century was discovered in an archaeological site in the United Arab Emirates. By 1350, tools for serving coffee were introduced to Türkiye, Egypt and Persia.
The story of Turkish coffee begins in Yemen, not in Türkiye. In the 15th century, Sufi mystics are said to consume it to keep them awake during long nights of prayer and devotion. When Sultan Suleiman, known as the epic Europe, seized Yemen in 1538, invaded the Ottoman Empire. Within a year, the beans arrived in Constantinople. This is now Istanbul.
In 1539, Admiral Hayredin Barbarossa of the Ottoman Empire registered property, including “Kahve Odası” or coffee room, according to cemal Kafadar, author of the Harvard Cafadar Academic Paper on Coffee.
By the 1550s, the first “Kahvehanes” or coffee houses appeared in Istanbul, recorded in his book by historian Ibrahim Peshevi. “The history of Peshevi. “The new popularity of beverages became a hallmark of gastronomy researchers Melin, in the Ottoman Sesbrick method shared with Greece. Produces unfiltered drinks.
The coffee house sparked controversy. Asian and European religious scholars and political leaders viewed them as places of disruptive activity and neglecting chat. Haia Bay, governor of Mecca, banned coffee in the city in 1511. This is an order that lasts for 13 years due to concerns leading to underlying ideas. Ottoman Sultan repeatedly closed the cafe about similar horrors. They never completely disappeared. Even in 17th century England, Charles II “sought to close them, suspecting that anti-Loyalist instigation and rebellious conversations were happening in those coffee shops,” says London tour guide Chris McNeill.
Turkish coffee is “more than a drink,” says Seden Doden, an assistant professor of mentoring at the University of South Florida and from Safranborg in northern Turkey. Doan calls it a “bridge” and promotes sharing.
Today, coffee is an unofficial catch-up drink from Türkiye. Like many countries, when two friends who have been away for a while want to chat, they say, “Let’s have a cup of coffee.” In Türkiye, it means something more specific: “Come, I’ll make you a cup of Turkish coffee.”
The preparation ritual is precise and thorough, and includes a sedge placed on the heat, preferably a small, long, treated pot called hot coal or sand. The finest coffee grounds are cooked slowly to give off a rich flavor and create a beautiful top layer of foam that is considered a mark of quality.
A proper Turkish coffee should be kept hot and foamy, along with a cup of water and a lokum or Turkish delight. Water cleanses the palate, and Rokum balances the bitterness of the drink.
Coffee etiquette is equally important. It is served in a small cup, but it’s a quiet, slow, drunk so that you don’t rush like espresso. This gives the basis a time to settle and holds them at the bottom of the cup.
Once the cup is empty, it’s time to have a tassegrafie ritual or a coffee cup reading. The cup is flipped to its saucer and cooled to the left, and the shapes and symbols perceived within the remaining premises are “readed” for meaning. These are mostly in-situ, but fish usually mean luck. Birds indicate journey.
Fortunetelling is generally discouraged in Islamic culture, but reading coffee cups is considered “playful, symbolic interpretations” and “communal rituals.”
Dodean agrees: “We do it for fun.” Tasseography is an act of storytelling, and Doğan says she spends an hour reading, weaving stories and focusing on positive outcomes.
Turkish coffee rituals also find a way to other national traditions. During courtship, the future bride prepares and serves Turkish coffee to the groom and his family. To test his personality, she adds plenty of salt to the groom’s coffee. If he drinks without complaints, he proves his patience, maturity and value.
The coffee quickly moved west. Venetians may have first encountered it through trading connections. However, there is a more clearer link between the original coffee scenes of Türkiye and London. Daniel Edwards, a merchant from a Levant company who lived in Smyrna, and modern-day Izmir brought his servant Pasca Rose to London. In 1652, Rose opened what is believed to be the first coffee shop in the city at St. Michael’s Alley.
In Penny’s case, customers were able to drink as much as they wanted, taking part in a lively conversation. Like the Turkish “Kabehanes,” these “Penny University” were hubs of news, politics and sometimes opposition. Specifically, they were the opposite of men. Women were not allowed to drink coffee in either culture, but in London women were able to at least work in coffee shops.
Despite its rich history and cultural significance, Turkish coffee did not have global brand recognition for espresso. Sever condemns the generational gap. “We’ve limited Turkish coffee to rituals. For young people, it’s now considered something you drink with your parents,” she says.
She says innovation is necessary for global appeal. Doan disagrees, insists that tradition must be protected.
Others work hard to introduce Turkish coffee to the world. Ayşe Kapusuz holds a Turkish coffee workshop in London, and in New York Urchurgen (Dr. Honeybrew) runs a Turkish coffee room, offering coffee drinking and fortune-telling theatre sessions.
“In spite of the bitter taste of Turkish coffee, Americans drink it to the last drop for a cup reading performance,” he says.
To find an authentic coffee experience in Turkey, Kapusuz is recommended to find a place that is slowly prepared in Cesbes, preferably slowly prepared on hot sand, served with thick foam and Lokum and water.
In Istanbul, Kapus recommends Hafiz Mustafa. Sever proposes Mandabatmaz on Independence Street and Nuri Toplar in the city’s Egyptian bazaar. To add a modern twist, she proposes Kadikoy’s hacıbekir.
Coffee cup measurements can be found in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district or near Tunell in Beior, but Doan suggests a more personal approach. The experience is more about storytelling and human connection than fortune telling. It may simply mean asking locals drinking coffee for help to find the fascinating story waiting at the bottom of the cup.
