XYZ Cihangir - the Coffee Guru, Istanbul - Turkey

Kılıçali Paşa, Anahtar Sk. No:3/A, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye

​We have a little time left before we have to head to the airport and so take a gambol in no particular direction until a sudden and unexpected downpour forces us to take cover in a local coffee shop.
A higgledy-piggledy mismatch of a place, it serves strong coffee that has a pleasant coarseness to it in how diligently it expresses its caffeination. It’s still delightful speciality coffee, just offering up an acidic buzz that jolts you to your core as opposed to the super smooth stuff that can become a little wearing over time.
Here, homemade earrings are for sale and flyers and leaflets dot the counter for community events and projects. The owner begins to talk to us and we discover that she’s German and has relocated here with her husband, saying she prefers living in Turkey.

“Why’s that?” I ask.
“Life is objectively harder here, but the people are so much warmer and happier to talk and lend a hand. I think we forget that back home.”

I nod at this, the UK definitely has some of that sensibility about it, still, it’s home and it’s where I want to be now.


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