Turkish Tea
I distinctly remember the always flowing apple tea, or Elma Çayı, when I spent several weeks in Istanbul back in 1992. Everywhere I went in the city I was being enticed into carpet, silver and ceramic shops to ‘just take a look’ and was always offered a warm infusion of apples. Sometimes it had added spices, or black tea, often served sweet, but always offered with such hospitality - whether I bought anything or not. I was enchanted by the beautiful tulip glasses it was served in. In my youth in Canada, I had only seen tea served in ceramic cups. I remember the warmth in my hands, the smooth thin rim of the glass as I sipped, and the often beautifully painted designs on them. I sadly did not buy a set back then (I was worried they would get broken on the ship). I was serving onboard HMCS Gatineau at the time on a NATO tour.
Tea and coffee are also served in these lovely glasses in Egypt. However, it is rare to find the ‘old-fashioned’ painted style of glasses these days. Fast forward to 2025 and I just happen across a stunning turquoise glass set on Amazon. They called out to me, and a couple of weeks later they were in my hands, and I was brewing a lovely cup of Turkish black tea!
What I don’t own is a double-kettle (çaydanlık) that is typically used in Türkiye. This holds boiling water in the bottom, and the concentrated tea in the top. When being served, you can add hot water to the concentrated tea to adjust for individual tastes.
I just used a tea pot I had on hand, and kept water hot with my (Canadian) Grosche ‘Marrakesh Gooseneck’ kettle.[1]
I always rinse the teapot with boiling water first, then I add the tea and hot water. Traditionally it is drunk with a sugar cube between the teeth and the tea is sipped through the sugar. That is far too sweet for me, so I just adjust the tea to a lighter brew and drink it without sugar.
Sometimes served with a rose bud in the glass, but I didn’t have any roses on hand, so I drank my tea with rose loukoumi (Turkish Delight), known as malban (ملبان ) in Egyptian.[2]
What a lovely tea moment with wonderful memories!
P.S. I recommend hand washing the glassware to prevent the colour from fading in a dishwasher.
[1] I highly recommend this Canadian🍁company - Grosche - as they give back through their Safe Water Project with each purchase. This particular kettle has a wonderful gooseneck for pouring and a built-in thermometer for ensuring each type of tea is brewed at the right temperature.
[2] There is a good recipe for Malban here - https://egyptianrecipe.com/malban-traditional-dessert/
