How is Turkish tea brewed and how is it drunk?
Tea is made in a çaydanlık, a stacked double pot. Water boils in the lower chamber while the leaves steep in the upper one. The dark brew goes into the glass first, then hot water from below. That is how you set the strength yourself.
Ask for açık if you want it light, koyu if you want it strong. It is not taken with milk, and lemon is usually left out.
The glass is small and tulip shaped. It is small because the tea is drunk hot and refilled often. Leaving an empty glass on the table usually reads as another one, please.
How is Turkish coffee made, and how do you order it?
Turkish coffee is made from very finely ground beans and cooked slowly in a cezve. It is not boiled. It is lifted off just before boiling so the foam survives. The grounds settle at the bottom of the cup. They are not stirred in and not drunk.
The sugar goes in while it cooks, not afterwards. That is why you have to say at the point of ordering.
- Sade, no sugar.
- Az şekerli, about half a teaspoon.
- Orta, one teaspoon.
- Şekerli, two teaspoons.
A glass of water comes with it, and usually a piece of lokum. The water is drunk first, to clear the palate.
Turkish coffee is 240 lira on the Sultan Grill House menu, cooked in a copper cezve.
When are tea and coffee drunk?
Tea is drunk at any hour. At breakfast, after a meal, in the afternoon, and late in the evening.
Turkish coffee comes after a meal, not with it. And there is no coffee at the meal called kahvaltı. The word comes from kahve and altı, meaning what is eaten before coffee.
Coffee follows dessert. Nobody hurries it. The cup is small but the sitting is long.
Is tea free, or does it go on the bill?
Some places offer tea after a meal, others put it on the bill. There is no rule and it varies from one place to the next.
If you want to know, ask. The price written on the menu is the price you pay, with no service or cover charge added to it.
A regulation dated 30 January 2026 banned service and cover charges in Turkey. You should not see such a line on your bill.
Is there anything without caffeine?
Herbal teas are common in Turkey. Linden, sage, mint and lemon, and apple tea appear on most menus. None of them carry caffeine.
Turkish tea itself is black tea and does carry caffeine. Asking for it açık makes it lighter but does not remove it.
Decaffeinated Turkish coffee is not widely available. If you would rather not have coffee late in the evening, a herbal tea is the better choice.
What are the grounds at the bottom of the cup for?
The grounds are the ground coffee that settles at the bottom. They are not drunk. Take the last mouthful slowly or they will reach you.
There is a tradition of turning the cup over and reading the grounds. It is done for amusement and nobody expects it to be taken seriously.
Turning the finished cup upside down on its saucer and letting it cool is the first step of that tradition.
