• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Seasonal Cook In Turkey

  • Home
  • Soups
  • Mezes
  • Börek
  • Turkish Salad
  • Main Meals
    • Turkish Meat Recipes
    • Fish
    • Vegetable Dishes
  • Sweet Treats
  • Drinks
  • About
    • About Lulu Witt
    • Awards
    • Ottolenghi
    • Contact Us

Turkish Çay demystified

17th March 2011 By Claudia Turgut 5 Comments

I love tea and I especially love Turkish çay.
glass of tea at Ayse's

It has its own special ritual something akin to fixing cocktails at 6pm with its own clink of glasses and the sound of filling the kettle and then the wait.  I think it all comes down to anticipation while getting those seductive little glasses out. By the way, did you know that they are affectionately known as Ajdas, after Ajda Pekkan, the iconic – and curvaceous – singer?

Turkish çay in the Bazaar

Remember this, Mark? buying kilims and sofras at Hasan and Adnan’s

Offering a glass of çay is part of the fabric of life here so you’ll find yourself sipping it at the butcher’s, in the bank, while debating the purchase of a carpet in the Grand Bazaar …Turks use çay as a social lubricant, a sign of their great hospitality, the thinking being that any situation will be better if tea is served. And so it is.
But there is a huge difference between good tea and average tea, between brewed and stewed. Not everyone can make good tea, not even Turks as they readily admit. 8 times out of 10, my çay tastes very nice but the other 2 times, it can be downright horrible. The skill lies in knowing how many spoonfuls of tea to put in the pot.

These are market çaycıs: they offer tea to the stallholders

These are market çaycıs: they offer tea to the stallholders

>
So what do you need to embark on making Turkish çay? First of all, get yourself a nice çaydanlık seti: this is a set of 2 kettles one on top of the other like a Russian samovar. The smaller one on top is called the demlik while the larger one on which it rests is the çaydanlık.  I am assuming that you have already succumbed and bought yourself a set of those enchanting tulip-shaped glasses with the little saucers.

The best çay comes from Black Sea areas like Rize and the supermarkets have shelves full of different varieties. We like Ahmad Çayı which is a nice strong tea. Turks are very fond of making their own blends eg by adding a hint of Earl Grey. Until very recently the best present you could bring a Turk was a packet of that oh so English of teas back from the UK. You will also see packets of demlik poşet which are special teabags made just for making tea in the Turkish way and are quite new on the scene. They are not instant like PG Tips.

2 pics of Aysen's tea and Lesley's tea

If it is just my husband and me, I will put one very heaped teaspoon each plus one for the pot just like we do with English tea, in the smaller kettle.  The idea is that the leaves will warm while the water below is coming to the boil. When it does, you pour some on top of those leaves so it is quite liquid, and give it a good stir before turning the heat down and timing it 10 minutes. No more no less. I use a timer for this crucial part of the process! Too long and it will taste bitter. Never try to make English tea like this.

Pouring the tea depends on how your guests like it: it is a good idea to ask. I like it demli which means strong but many prefer it açık or weak. So adjust how much you put in the glasses- a finger is about right -, and then continue filling from the larger kettle. When you finish pouring, don’t forget to top up both kettles. I use my electric kettle to boil more water speedily just for this. For large groups, many Turkish hostesses have 2 çaydanlıks on the go plus their electric kettle.

Cay on ferry

notice the colour: tavşan kanı or rabbit’s blood! This is how it should be….

Colour is the thing: a good glass of çay should be tavşan kanı or the colour of rabbits blood! We aim for this but others might find it too strong.

One of the greatest sources of pleasure or keyif in Istanbul is drinking çay on a vapur or ferry as you cross the Bosphorus on a sunny day with the seagulls swooping overhead, that unforgettable skyline of the Old City ahead of you and a tost or one of those delicious toasted cheese sandwiches in your hand. Don’t miss the opportunity!

çaydanlıks on the ferry

çaydanlıks on the ferry

Related

Filed Under: Drinks Tagged With: çay, drinks, teaparty, Turkish Breakfast

Previous Post: « Caramel Apple Loaf Cake
Next Post: Oven-baked Sea Bass/Fırında Deniz Levreği »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julia says

    18th March 2011 at 9:58 am

    I just love çay. Nothing better than sitting in a cafe along the seafront sipping tea – after we've convinced the waiter that we don't want English tea, that is! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Happy Frog and I says

    18th March 2011 at 7:19 pm

    My other half loves Earl Grey so I imagine he would like this very much.

    Reply
  3. rosaria says

    20th March 2011 at 6:12 pm

    A lovely introduction to Turkish tea.

    Reply
  4. THE OLD GEEZER ~Ron says

    21st March 2011 at 7:21 pm

    Greetings from Southern California

    I am your newest follower. I invite you to visit my blog and become a follower.

    God Bless You 🙂

    ~Ron

    Reply
  5. Knitsister says

    22nd March 2011 at 9:46 am

    This reminds me of the many Cays I have drunk whilst sitting by the side of the Bosphorus many years ago and I remember the market cycis so well too. I love the colour of cay too, almost like amber jewels.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

GET  YOUR  RECIPE  UPDATES

VIA  EMAIL

Popular Posts

  • A Variation on Traditional Bean Piyaz, This Time with Chickpeas: Nohut Piyazı A Variation on Traditiona... If you order piyaz in a restaurant, the odds are th...
  • Spicy Turkish Liver in the Albanian style: Arnavut Ciğeri Spicy Turkish Liver in th... Albanian liver  Arnavut ciğeri [pron:jee/air], in t...
  • Red Cabbage Salad - Kırmızı Lahana Salatası Red Cabbage Salad –... You know, sometimes simple is best.Instead of making...
  • Easy Sourdough in a Bread Maker Easy Sourdough in a Bread... Never ever ever did I think that I would own a breadmak...
  • Gavurdağı Salatası - Turkish Tomato Salad with Walnuts & Cumin Gavurdağı Salatası –... Gavurdağı Salatası at Sahan Lokantası, Bağd...
  • Turkish Rice Pudding/Sütlaç either Baked in the Oven/Fırında or not ... Turkish Rice Pudding/Sütl... When I was going out with my now-husband - I want to...
  • Clementine - or Orange - & Almond Syrup Cake: from Ottolenghi! I highly recommend it! Clementine – or Ora... I was really pleased with the way this cake turned out...

Copyright©2017 Seasonalcookinturkey.com • Back to Top •Contact US • Privacy Policy