The Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia. Coffee drinking spread in the Islamic world in the 16th century. From the Hijaz arrived Cairofrom, Syria and Istanbul. The coffee tree was first cultivated commercially in the Yemen, having been introduced there from the rainforests of Ethiopia where it grew wild. For a long time Yemenis had a world monopoly on the export of coffee beans, by deliberately destroying their ability to germinate. For nearly a century (1538–1636) the Ottoman empire controlled the southern coastal region of the Yemen, notably its famous coffee port Mocha. In the 18th century Egypt was the richest province of the Ottoman empire, and the chief commodity it traded was Yemeni coffee. Cairo merchants were responsible for moving it from the Yemen to markets in the Islamic world. Soon, coffeehouses spread all over Istanbul and even to small towns in Anatolia.
In Turkey, the coffee beans are ground finely, and then this coffee powder will be boiled on a sand stove in small pots made of pure copper or brass called ‘cezve’. Turkish coffee is special that they will not remove the residue as if it settles at the bottom of the cup, meaning that we will drink coffee with the residue.
Although the last century or so has seen tea surge in popularity to become Turkey’s most ubiquitous hot drink, coffee still retains a deep cultural tie. There’s still an affinity for a strong cup of traditional Türk kahvesi (Turkish coffee), so steeped in ritual and history that it was added to Unesco’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
Turkish coffee can be prepared sade (plain), az şekerli (slightly sweet), orta şekerli (medium sweet) or şekerli (sweet).