Hey there! My name is Ana and I am an Expat Woman in Turkey 🙂 I have been living here for the past four years. I am stay at home mom to a three-year-old boy and a baby boy. My husband is Turkish. I created this website to share my expat experience and connect with other expat women. Hope you enjoy browsing through my website! :)
Turkish Tea Culture
One of the first impressions, when you come to Turkey, is that people everywhere, always, in any possible situation drink tea. And not just any tea. It is a famous black Turkish tea called çay in Turkish.
As a tourist, you will be invited to stores by owners for a cup of tea while you look around the shop, but for an expat living in Turkey, Turkish tea culture will become a huge part of everyday life.
In the beginning
When I first came to Turkey this habit of drinking tea everywhere and almost always seemed so strange to me. I come from the country of coffee drinkers and we don’t take it so seriously, but here drinking tea is an art, a necessity, pleasure and tea making requires skills. I still remember first tea that I made for my father in law. It was a big happening for me, as I knew how much he loves a good cup of tea, so I was very worried if I can do it well. I have Turkish friends who drink more than 15 Turkish small cups of tea a day. Most of it with a cube or two of sugar.
When you have guests at home, you will make a Turkish tea in a tea kettle and serve it a few hundred times, because Turkish tea cups are so small, that you will be required to go to the kitchen (where you keep it warm on the fire, because if it doesn’t burn your mouth, it’s not good enough for Turks :D) and bring the tea every 10ish minute for a refill 🙂
My biggest surprise
In Turkey, it is very common to see workers on the side of the road making tea in a samovar.
It is actually a wonderful sight to see workers resting while they indulge in their favorite drink, giving it so much importance. They are there, present in the moment, enjoying their break.
Today
Today, after living here for four years I became addicted to çay 🙂 Well… Not really addicted, but I enjoy çay after the meal while we eat something sweet or with the breakfast. Making çay in Turkish tea kettle requires a bit of skill that finally I feel confident with and now when we have guests I don’t ask my husband anymore whether the çay is done, I just serve it and love to bring the kettle even millions of times from the kitchen, because it means that our home is filled with dear people we love to spend time with.
Please, share your thoughts on this subject in the comment box bellow or contact me directly. Do you like Turkish tea? Did you get used to drinking it on every occasion? 🙂
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I had no idea tea was such a big thing there! What is the difference between cay tea and something like black tea? Is it more sweet? I myself have been easing into tea drinking lately. I never used to like it but after forcing myself to drink about 50 cups I find it’s actually starting to grow on me. Is there any particular reason the cups are so small? Just to ensure your tea doesn’t get cold? Great article!
Hey Sam, thanks for your comment. Yes, tea here is a huge thing. What they call cay is a black tea and actually, they produce it here, in Turkey and it’s organic, which is great! No need for use of pesticides and other things, because cay is being grown in areas with a lot of snow, which protects it from many things. And yes, cups are small just to ensure your tea is always hot. Thanks for reading and I’m glad you liked it!
Thanks for getting back to me! Wow, it must be so fresh. I’ve never had fresh tea before! It must be far superior to normal tea I would imagine.
Yes, the taste is pretty amazing. Hope you’ll have a chance to try it once.
Wow! As an Italian that lived for a while in Turkey, I can make a parallel with the coffee culture in my home country. It is very interesting that in Turkey they are drinking so much black tea…do they mix it with milk also (as a parallel to cappuccino!)? Also, do they drink other types of tea (like green, made out of herbs, fruits, etc.) or the black tea is dominant? Thanks again for sharing your experiences from Turkey!
Dear Filippo,thanks for your interest. Actually in Turkey on a daily basis most of the people drink only black tea and never mixing it with milk. Herbal teas are also very popular,but most of the people would drink in it only when they`re sick. I`m glad you like my blog,there are maany things and posts to come,so do come back. All the best to you.