Republic of Turkey
"Caysiz sohbet, aysiz gok yuzu gibidir."
(Conversations without tea are like a night sky
without the moon.)
-Folk saying from Sivas, Turkey
Turkish Cay Traditions
Turkish cay (pronounced chai) is very strong. It is usually served is small tulip shaped tea glasses. This strong black tea is poured into tulip shaped glasses and it can be diluted with additional hot water to adjust the taste per the individual. If one likes a weaker cay, you add more water and it is called "acik cay". If you like a stronger brew, you do not add any hot water and it is called "koyu cay". The tea is always served very hot.
The Turks serve their strong black cay in small glasses (versus porcelain tea cup) because they want to see the color of the tea through the glass. The cay should be clear and a deep mahogany color. Sugar or sugar cubes may be added to the cay, but milk is never added! The majority of Turks use a lot of sugar in their cay!
The "tinkling sound" of tea spoons stirring sugar into the small tea glasses, is a common sound in the Turksih cay gardens and coffee & cay houses.
Turkish cay is made in a special kettle that is in two parts, one on top of the other, similar to a Russian samovar. The boiling water is placed in the bottom kettle and the cay is spooned into the top kettle. One spoon for each person and one extra for "the pot". Once the water has boiled from the bottom kettle, water is poured into the top kettle and the heat is turned down to let the cay steep.
Important to Note: To prevent the tea glasses from shattering from the boiling water, it is a good idea to make sure that there is a teaspoon in the glass. Pour the tea first from the top kettle, then pour hot water from the bottom kettle per individual taste to make "acik cay" or "koyu cay".
The eastern city of Erzurum is renowned for a habit of drinking cay kitlama style. "Kitlama cay" is when one sugar cube is placed under the tongue or on the side of the mouth. One sugar cube can sweeten up to 30 small tulip shaped glasses of cay! With kitlama cay, the tea is sweetened in the mouth rather than sweetening the tea with sugar cubes in the glass.
At Mes Amis Teahouse, our guests tried drinking cay kitlama style ! We realized that our sugar cubes break down much faster that the Turkish "rock candy style" sugar cubes, ....therefore, our kitlama cay was very very sweet!!!
This guest has at least one sugar cube in her mouth as she is drinking kitlama cay!
Yummy!
Our guests enjoyed a sampling of Turkish foods and of course, delicious Turkish desserts! Some of the desserts included a Turkish style of baklava and Turkish Delights (also known as lokum or loukoum).
Turkish Delight is a candy that originated in Turkey in the 1700's. The cand was featured in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", by C.S. Lewis. The White Witch tempted a character, Edmund, with Turkish Delights!!!
Mes Amis Teahouse owner, Michelle Pesut Otterness, offers a Turkish Toast to the guests, "Affiyet Olsun!" (Bon Appetit and/or Enjoy your drink and meal!)
A dad and his tea club member daughter enjoy this Turkish cay event. Her passport sits on the table as they "travel" to exotic Turkey together at Mes Amis Teahouse!