Turkish Tea and Coffee in the UK: what it is, how to order it, where to find it
Quick answer
Turkish tea, çay, is black tea brewed strong in a double teapot and served in small tulip-shaped glasses, diluted to taste and drunk all day. Turkish coffee is finely ground coffee simmered with water and sugar in a small pot, served unfiltered with the grounds settling in the cup. Both are rituals rather than drinks, and every Turkish restaurant and café in the UK serves them; how they do it tells you a lot about the place.
Calories and nutrition
- Calories
- 20
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 5 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Salt
- 0.0 g
2–40 kcal
Portion: One glass of Turkish tea with one sugar cube, or one Turkish coffee with a little sugar.
Tea without sugar is 2 kcal; coffee 'sade' (no sugar) is about 5; each sugar cube adds 16.
Estimates for a typical portion, based on standard UK and USDA food composition data. Actual values depend on the recipe and the restaurant.
Turkish tea
The tea is grown on the Black Sea coast around Rize and brewed in a çaydanlık, a stacked pair of pots: water boils in the lower one and steam keeps a concentrated brew warm in the upper. To serve, the strong tea is poured into a glass and topped with hot water, 'açık' for light or 'koyu' for dark. Sugar cubes go in the glass; milk never does. Turks drink it from breakfast to bedtime, and in a restaurant it arrives at the end of the meal without being asked for and is often free. The tulip glass is not decoration: it keeps the tea hot at the base and cool enough to hold at the rim.
Turkish coffee
The coffee is ground to a powder finer than espresso, put in a small long-handled pot called a cezve with cold water and sugar, and heated slowly until it foams; it is poured with the foam on top and drunk in small sips, leaving the grounds in the bottom of the cup. You order it by sweetness: sade, no sugar; az şekerli, a little; orta, medium; şekerli, sweet. Sugar goes in during brewing, never after. It is served with a glass of water and often a piece of Turkish delight, and the empty cup is turned over on the saucer for fortune-telling. It is drunk after the meal, not with it.
How to judge them
Tea should be brewed in a double pot, dark red and clear, not cloudy or bitter, and served in a proper glass. Tea made from a bag in a mug is not Turkish tea, however the menu describes it. Coffee should have a thick layer of foam on top; foam means it was brewed slowly and freshly. A Turkish coffee that arrives without foam was rushed or made in a machine. A place that brings tea at the end of the meal without asking, and refills it, is a place run by Turks for Turks.
Where in the UK it is done well
Every Turkish café, bakery and kahvaltı house serves tea properly, and the coffee houses of Green Lanes, Enfield and Dalston are where Turkish men have played cards over çay for forty years. The ranking below counts Turkish businesses in our directory whose name signals tea, coffee or café.
How to order it
Order tea 'açık' if you find it strong; do not ask for milk. Order coffee by sweetness, 'orta' if unsure, and do not stir it or drink the last sip. Tea after a meal is usually on the house; tip anyway. A Turkish café is the cheapest place in any town to sit for an hour.
Where it's done well
UK councils with the most turkish tea and coffee specialists, by restaurant name, in our directory.
Restaurants near you
Search by postcode or use your location to find restaurants likely to serve turkish tea and coffee near you.
Make it at home
Serves 2 · 10 min
Ingredients
- 2 heaped tsp Turkish coffee, ground to a powder
- 2 small coffee cups of cold water
- sugar to taste: none, half a tsp or 1 tsp per cup
- a cezve or the smallest saucepan you have
Method
- Put the coffee, water and sugar in the cezve and stir once to combine.
- Heat over a low flame without stirring. As it warms, a foam forms; watch it closely.
- Just before it boils, when the foam rises, take it off the heat and spoon a little foam into each cup.
- Return to the heat until it rises once more, then pour slowly into the cups so the foam stays on top.
- Serve with a glass of water and let the grounds settle for a minute before drinking.
Low heat and patience are the whole technique; boiled coffee has no foam. For tea, use a double teapot if you have one, or brew a very strong pot and dilute in the glass.