Brewing a cup of Turkish tea

Everyone knows about Turkish coffee, but here it's really all about cay. Everywhere you go in Istanbul you see people sitting around sipping tea. I too seem to have acquired a taste for Turkish tea and decided to make some at home. Brewing Turkish cay is not to be taken lightly- in fact it took me the better part of the day to get one just right.

First you have to start with where you're planning on drinking it. Ideally it should be an outdoor spot, and preferably one with a view. We are lucky enough to have just such a spot with a view of Asia (unfortunately for R, we just miss out on a sighting of the Bosphorus), and it just so happened that today was the day that the store finally decided to deliver our newly-bought garden table and chairs. So it seemed like a good day to try my hand at tea.

Before we even start talking which tea leaves we have to ponder teapots. Authentic Turkish cay must be brewed in a double teapot. The system is somewhat akin to the Russian samovar- you basically brew tea in the little pot on top and then dilute it to your liking with the water boiling below. The steam from the lower pot helps brew the tea. It is symptomatic of Istanbul that it is easier to find an electric double cay teapot or caydanlik than the old-fashioned kind, but at least I have the necessary tools.

Caydanlik

Now for the tea. When we were moving, many well-wishing Pakistani expats warned us to bring our own tea from home since according to them the local brew was undrinkable. Maybe it is because R and I don't drink much tea back home that we haven't really missed our desi karak chai, but to make authentic Turkish cay you must get Turkish tea leaves, and siyah cay- none of the green tea variety. You have to add one teaspoon of tea leaves for every cup you are planning on making and wash the leaves thoroughly in a strainer to get rid of any powder. Then you add the tea leaves to the top pot and fill the lower pot with water. Once the lower pot has boiled, you pour water from it onto the tea leaves and put both pots together again, letting the tea leaves steep in the pot for a good 15 minutes. Well prepared Turkish tea should not have a horrible astringent after-taste because the tea leaves are never allowed to overcook, they are merely gently heated via steaming.

While waiting for the tea to brew you can start readying your cups. Turkish tea cups are tulip-shaped glasses, and are considered the best shape for tea. The depth and narrow mouth keep the tea hot for as long as possible and the flared out lip allow you to hold the glass without burning your fingertips. Ideally the glasses should be Pasabahce , accompanied by their little plates and tiny spoons. Turkish cay should be served with sugar cubes rather than granules, simply for the aesthetic pleasure of watching the cube melt into the garnet liquid.

If you still have a few minutes to wait spend them reading the English version of instructions that came with the caydanlik. After lines and lines of almost incomprehensible commands we get to the crux of the matter: "Tea steeping is a process that everyone knows..." hmm.

Once you have steeped your tea to your taste, you pour it into the glass, either 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up- depending on how strong you want your tea and then fill up the glass with the steaming water from the pot below. And voila here's your cup of perfect Turkish cay with view to match...just don't plan to do it in a hurry!