Uncovering 1000’s of years of Turkish tea tradition.
BY JESSICA GOLDMAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured picture by Anna Berdnik
I’m doing my finest to not spill any of the steaming amber brew from the fragile, tulip-shaped glass I’m holding because the ferry pitches backwards and forwards within the uneven waters of the Bosporus. Though it’s lower than a 30-minute crossing to Kadikoy on Istanbul’s Asian aspect, the tea server has made a minimum of three rounds; his tray is cluttered with conventional cups. I look round at my fellow passengers and admire how everybody sips their tea with out incident. In the meantime, I cringe every time the boat heaves, fearful of scalding myself or, worse, humiliation.
I’ve come to Istanbul searching for the right cup of Turkish tea and to raised perceive the tradition surrounding the nation’s beverage of selection. On a cobblestone road exterior my resort, I meet my information Benoit, a Belgian transplant who shares my love of tea. He has promised me an genuine tea-drinking expertise. So, we’re skipping the fashionable cafés and touristy tea gardens and going on to town’s hans.
These Ottoman-era buildings, discovered all through town, as soon as served as inns for vacationers alongside the Silk Street. In the present day they home a wide range of wholesalers, tradespeople, and artisans. Though most hans focus on a single commerce reminiscent of metallic works or textiles, all of them have one factor in frequent: a tea home.
Our first cease takes us to Istanbul’s industrial Karaköy district. As we enter the slender arcade that serves as Ada Han’s tea home, the mismatched tables are almost full. Omer, the supervisor, explains that his explicit mix has been perfected over 20 years, and solely a choose few know the precise recipe. I squeeze into his tiny steam-filled kitchen, the place he demonstrates the normal tea-making course of.
He spoons the loose-leaf black tea into the highest half of a well-used metal çaydanlik, or conventional stacked teapot, the place it steeps to create a robust, darkish brew. Then he makes use of the boiling water that fills the underside half to dilute every cup, making certain the right energy primarily based on choice. We sit for a glass at one of many low tables.
Following Benoit’s lead, I add a lump of sugar and watch it rapidly dissolve into the recent liquid. I sip it as if I’m tasting wine, letting the bitter but semi-sweet drink roll beneath my tongue. Trying round, I’m struck by how this one unassuming tea room hosts such a definite cross-section of the inhabitants. I see college students with stacks of books, tradespeople in stained coveralls, and even a distinguished politician. Turkey’s nationwide pastime is so robust that it unifies a extremely numerous inhabitants.
Benoit tells me that though tea has been part of Turkish tradition for 1000’s of years, its recognition grew out of necessity within the early 20th century. The excessive worth and restricted availability of espresso following World Warfare I prompted the federal government to encourage tea consumption. He explains that by the mid-1900s, Turkey had established and controlled a tea-growing area alongside the Black Beach. Its verdant soil offered the right situations for high-quality tea cultivation.
Later that afternoon, Benoit takes me to Fatih, one in every of Istanbul’s oldest neighborhoods and residential to the famed Grand Bazaar, a lined market that spans over 300,000 sq. toes. As we wander the slender passageways, tea servers seem out of skinny air. They whisk conventional copper trays via the crowds to ship glasses to the market’s roughly 20,000 workers. The precariously balanced cups slide backwards and forwards towards both finish of the ornate platters, and although I witness a couple of close to misses, not one drop of tea is misplaced.
Since days revolve round Turkey’s subsequent cup of tea, we cease at close by Sura Odalar Han for one more glass. This time I observe the cue of the group at a neighboring desk and forgo the sugar. Its bitterness coats my tongue and makes my cheeks pucker; it is a new sensory expertise in comparison with the mildly candy cup I had earlier. And I prefer it. Behind me, a minimum of 16 landline telephones cling on a wall within the kitchen, every a direct line to one of many upstairs workshops. They resemble the command submit of a army operation.
Lastly, we transfer on to the Kahveci Han, the place I spot a sq. wood tray on a pulley system that hoists tea between flooring. The makeshift dumbwaiter looks as if a literal lifeline to that subsequent cup. When nightfall lastly units in, Benoit and I half methods. Though I’ve already had a minimum of 5 cups, I resolve to take a seat for one more at a bakery close to the Galata Tower.
On my journey to find the right cup of tea in Istanbul, I’ve discovered that, on common, Turks eat over 1,000 glasses of tea per individual yearly. So, I’ve a little bit of catching as much as do if I’m seeking to establish perfection. I’ve additionally discovered that the centuries-old custom of simply sitting to get pleasure from a cup of tea and savoring the second is a part of the pursuit. Whether or not it’s within the tea room of an Ottoman-era han, the patio of a nook bakery, or on the deck of a crowded ferry, my good cup will all the time be inside attain.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessica Goldman began her journalism profession at CBS Information, however wanderlust led her to journey writing. Her adventures are primarily solo, and she or he loves reporting on under-the-radar locations. Her work has appeared in Journey + Leisure, Alula Journal, Matador Community, and extra.
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