Galata Ünver Residence, Hacımimi, Galata Mandırası St. No:18 Floor: -1, 34000 Beyoğlu/Istanbul
https://www.highlightsinturkiye.com
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​It’s pure, heart-pounding eroticism: the smell, the taste, the touch, the preparation! Some people find my obsession with coffee a little too much but the rich, vibrant flavour and intricate, almost artistic, level of detail one can go into to get the perfect cup is something that appeals to my base senses on such a level, that I feel I may be closer to understanding religious experience from my morning brew than any holy book or scripture has brought me. It is, perhaps then, no great surprise that I actively seek out things to do with this divine bean even when I travel. When I knew I was going to Turkey, I was adamant I would have to do something about learning more about this country’s unique and well-established coffee culture.

​Foregoing my morning coffee, we catch the tram across the city to the trendy area downtown full of hipster coffee bars, art galleries and carefully orchestrated graffiti, I guess a bit like what Hackney is to London or the whole of Berlin is to Berlin. Cautiously creeping through some rather suspect back alleys, we arrive at the workshop centre (that also does crafts and other experiences focused around Turkish culture) and are led upstairs to a pristine and polished classroom of sorts.


A horseshoe table setup surrounds a pan of sand with a small, incredibly decorated hand grinder, water, espresso mug and saucer, scale, and a traditional Turkish coffee pot called a cezve are at each station with enough space for about 15 people. Oddly enough, only my partner and I have booked this particular session.

Our instructor runs us through a brief history of Turkish coffee before demonstrating how to grind the beans, weigh out the exact amount of water, and then brew the coffee in the cezve using the hot sand in the pan, and we each get a turn to try this ourselves and pour our own coffee. Circling the pot in the heated sand, you then scoop the grains around the pot so the heat is applied evenly until the coffee bubbles to the top and you remove it and pour everything in including the grounds.
Strong, incredibly rich and viscous, the coffee has a dark and complex taste that many outside of Turkey might baulk at (so much so that it is often served directly poured over a sugar cube), I’m so glad I got to see and sample this and expand my coffee making knowledge with this particular cultural twist. However, not just a brewing experience, we are told to turn our coffee cups onto our saucers and move them clockwise three times in the air once we’ve drunk all the liquid. Here, we are handed a guide on what to look for in Turkish fortune-telling signs and our tutor walks us through what fortunes he sees for us. I’m not sure I’m entirely invested in the idea but it was fun to see the cultural importance behind it and great to hear some positive news is coming my way!