Having a brew

Compared to Turkish people, we Brits are amateurs when it comes to drinking tea or çay as they call it; pronounced ‘chy’, same as the Indian chai.  It is always on the brew!

In the UK, if we want a pot rather than a mug, we use a ‘cosy’ to try to keep the teapot and the tea warm and how many times do we have to make a fresh pot because it’s ‘stewed’?  The Turkish have a better method.  They have a kettle and teapot combination.  Modern ones are electric and have both boil and ‘keep warm’ settings.  The kettle is filled with water, the teapot is filled with tea and placed on top of the open kettle.  Once the water has boiled, the kettle turns to ‘keep warm’ mode.  The boiled water is poured in to the teapot which is then put back on top of the kettle.  The tea is kept warm from the kettle and as it gets stronger is topped up from the kettle or, as my friends do, they pour a bit from the teapot in to the çay glass and top it up from the kettle.  And they know how to do this to get the perfect strength!  This way, one pot can keep you going most of the day; a much more efficient method than we use in the UK.  The preferred way to drink it is in little tulip shaped glasses which can be plain or very fancy and they usually come with a little saucer and tiny teaspoon.  I’ve only ever seen it drunk black with maybe sugar which suits me.  I haven’t drunk milk in tea for 30 years and after trying Redbush, I found the normal UK black tea bitter but Turkish tea isn’t bitter at all.

I’d already bought some tea glasses and Turkish çay bags, so I decided I’d get one of the ‘tea machines’.  Unfortunately, the first one leaked water out after it had boiled so I replaced it with a better model.  I was a bit worried if I’d have a problem with the return as my Turkish is very limited still but it was OK.  I had to sign for the ‘refund’ but then that was deducted from the price of the replacement so I only paid the difference.

I’m very impressed with the efficiency and can keep the pot on the go for most of the afternoon and evening just getting a glass every now and then.

On my very first visit to Turkey, I saw people drinking from the little glasses and decided to give it a try.  I ordered iced tea (which I'd never had before), assuming it was that and was very disappointed when I has handed a can of Liptons iced tea 😂.  Iced tea is another favourite here and I buy it in litre bottles.  I favour the peach over the lemon.

Another drink I've discovered here is Schweppes Lime and Mint.  Never seen it in the UK but it's so refreshing and is quite nice with a slug of gin in too.🍸