Turkish çay

Çay arrived late in Turkey — commercial cultivation only began in earnest around Rize on the Black Sea coast in the 20th century, after coffee grew scarce and costly — yet it has become the most Turkish of habits. Turks drink an estimated 3 to 5 glasses a day, giving the country the highest per-capita tea consumption on earth. The çay is brewed dark and strong, then diluted at the glass to each drinker's preferred strength, from pale 'açık' to deep 'demli'. It is offered everywhere and to everyone: refusing a glass in a shop or a home can feel like refusing friendship itself. Endlessly refilled during conversation, negotiation, and idle waiting, çay is the social lubricant of Turkish daily life. Around 400 million of the little tulip glasses are sold each year — a measure of just how woven into the nation's rhythm this ritual has become.

How it's prepared

Brewed in a çaydanlık, a stacked double teapot: water boils in the lower kettle while a strong concentrate steeps in the smaller upper pot. Each glass is filled part-way with concentrate, then topped with hot water from below to reach the wanted strength — demli (dark and steeped) or açık (light and open). No milk is used.

The vessel

The ince belli bardak ('slim-waisted glass') is a small clear tulip-shaped glass. Its clarity shows off the prized red colour of a well-brewed çay, its pinched waist lets you hold it without scalding your fingers, and its size keeps every glass hot and fresh rather than large and cooling. It has become a national symbol in its own right.

Its social role

Serving çay is the default gesture of Turkish hospitality — extended to guests, customers, and strangers alike. It accompanies business dealings, shopkeeping, family visits, and long unhurried conversation; to share tea is to make time for someone.

What accompanies it

Sugar cubes served on the saucer (stirred in, not held in the teeth); often simit, pastries, or sweets; commonly taken after meals and throughout the day.