Turkish coffee is served in small cups and when you order it you will be asked how sweet you would like it. You will need to learn the three words which describe the levels of sweetness. 'Sade' is without sugar, 'orta' is with a medium amount of sugar and 'sekerli' is with a lot of sugar. It is usually helpful to the coffee maker if you order the same level of sweetness as your co-drinkers, as each level of is made (cooked) individually. You only drink about three quarters of the liquid, leaving the thick sendiment.

Indispensable accompaniment to good conversation, companion on sleepless.


Coffee came to Istanbul in the mid-16th century during the reign of
Suleiman the Magnificent. The coffee that governor of Ethiopia Ozdemir
Pasha brought home with him began to be drunk initially in the palaces and
stately mansions. It soon became a habit as people developed a taste for
'drinking fresh coffee from a fresh, young hand'. In a feast for the eyes,
three coffee 'angels' no more than sixteen years of age served guests tiny
sips of the bitter brew. The coffee sets used for these ceremonies dazzled
the eye as well. Art, elegance, wealth, youth and beauty combined to turn
the drinking of coffee into a feast. In time the tradition of drinking
coffee spread to the population as a whole, reaching as far as the
villages and the nomads' tents. Among the common folk as well, coffee was
served by young girls.