Coffee has played an important role in Turkish culture from the Ottoman period through the present. The serving and consumption of coffee has had a profound effect on political and social interaction, gender customs, and hospitality customs throughout the centuries. Although many of the rituals perished in time coffee has remained an integral part of Turkish culture.

Coffee is brought to Istanbul in 1555 by two Syrian traders. It was known as " the milk of chess players and thinkers." By the mid-17th century, Turkish coffee became a part of elaborate ceremonies involving the Ottoman court. Coffee makers known as "kahveci usta", with the help of over forty assistants, ceremoniously prepared and served coffee for the sultan. Betrothal customs and gender roles also became defined through coffee rituals. In the Ottoman period, women received intensive training in the harem on the proper techniques of preparing Turkish coffee. Perspective husbands would judge a woman's merits based on the taste of the coffee she made.

Coffee has been at the center of political and social interaction for both men and women in the Ottoman period. Women socialized with each other over coffee and sweets. Men socialized in coffee houses where they were discussing politics and playing backgammon. Coffee houses played host to a new form of satirical political and social criticism called shadow theater in which puppets were the main characters in the early 16th century. Over the years, Turkish coffee houses have become social institutions where people come together and talk.

Preparation of Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee is made of finely pulverized roasted coffee beans in special coffee pots called "cezve". Roasting degree and duration differ according to taste. Coffee is sold either green, or roasted beans or in pulverized form. In old houses a brass-made hand manupulated coffee mill would be used to pulverize coffee beans. An electrical coffee mill is used instead of brass-coffee mill at present time in many households. Turkish coffee is prepared in 4 ways:
"Az Sekerli" means coffee has little sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon)
"Orta Sekerli" means coffee has standart amount of sugar (1 teaspoon)
"Çok Sekerli" means coffee has more sugar than enough which is 1 1/2 teaspoons.
"Sade Kahve" means black coffee, without sugar.

Turkish coffee is served in special Turkish coffee cups made of porcelain. These cups are smaller in size than ordinary coffee cups. An average Turkish coffee cup is equal to 1/4 cup in volume. Coffee is served with bon-bon, candy bar or with "Lokum" (Turkish Delight) or with chocolate bars. It is served usually during midday or following a lunch or dinner. There is an old saying about coffee:" Bir kahve fincanin kirk yil hatiri vardir ". This saying means that if one has offered a cup of coffee to you you are obliged for forty years to the one who offered the coffee. It means that the person who offers the coffee is to be respected, honoured, and remembered for a long time for the sake of his coffee offering.

A Fortune Awaits

Are humans indeed free agents or just Shakespeare’s players acting out our scenes?The answer may lie in the bottom of your cup.

Personal experience implies there is not a reading without a long journey, some kind of financial dealing (for better or worse) and a metaphorical mountain involved somewhere, but for most foreigners in Istanbul certainly the journey, and in all likelihood the other two, do indeed lie ahead. Just once in a long while, though, you may find someone whose ability to infer the future from the remnants of your drink is distinctly uncanny.

The theory is simple. Once you reach the sediment the cup is turned upside down in its saucer, and, optionally, the bottom is touched for luck. When it cools, the grinds, in sliding down the inside of the cup, will have arranged themselves into various readable signals which forewarn of future events. The practice, however, (much) more often than not, simply covers for probing questions and gossip. “I see something going on with your X (brother/lover/work/etc.)... What would that be?” And as such it serves a useful purpose -boundaries are temporarily lifted and the important issues that didn’t make up the conversation over the coffee can be examined. Anyone who has been jolted by a stranger reading their cup with an unlikely amount of accuracy would probably be better off consulting a statistician or a psychoanalyst for an explanation, but here, for your amusemet and clairvoyance, are just some of the signals that could justify that X you’ve been promising yourself...