7 of the best places to drink Turkish coffee in Türkiye

Deep, thick and richly aromatic, türk kahve (Turkish coffee) is more than just a quick morning pick-me-up – it’s a backstage pass to Türkiye’s soul. Whether you’re having a heart-to-heart chat or playing backgammon in a dusky bazaar, the potent brew is the ultimate symbol of hospitality.

From its Ottoman-era history to the reverence and skill that goes into its careful preparation, no drink here ignites such passion. Turkish coffee culture runs deep, as shown in the fact that it is on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage and expressed in the old Turkish saying that a cup of the good stuff is “remembered for 40 years”. Forget your usual flat white, Turkish coffee is the drink with which the Turkish seal deals, forge friendships and even celebrate marriages (the bride being expected to prepare the perfect brew).

New-wave coffee chains are popping up in cities all the time, but locals still appreciate the beauty in the artistry of türk kahvesi – twice-brewing the coffee in a long-handled, thin-lipped copper pot called a cezve, pouring it with a flourish into a tinkling cup and perching an optional lokum (Turkish delight) on the side. Here we spill the beans on the best places and ways to try coffee in Türkiye.

1. Mandabatmaz, Istanbul

In the beating heart of Istanbul’s upbeat Beyoğlu district, tiny, endearingly old-school Mandabatmaz gets things just right. Proper Turkish coffee is still prepared here in a copper cezve, just as it has been since 1967. Grab a pavement stool in the quiet alley to tune into the flavor of the neighborhood and slowly sip a cup of heady, richly chocolatey coffee that is, as the name "Mandabatmaz" tells you, so thick that “a water buffalo wouldn’t sink in it”.

The secret? No cutting corners: everything is done with precision and a perfectionist’s eye – from the meticulous roasting of ultra-fresh beans to gauging the temperature of water and flame and serving the coffee at the correct time. You’ll smell the place before you see it – the aroma of coffee hits you like a crisp left hook. And if you like the beans, buy some to take home.

Make it happen: The coffee shop is open from 9:30am to 11:30pm daily, equally ideal for the first shot of the day or for refueling before a big night out.

2. Cappadocia Coffee Museum

With its towering gold-peach fairy chimney rock formations and cave-honeycombed cliffs rippling across the Anatolian plains, the Cappadocia region is surreally pretty. The small village of Mustafapaşa, with its rock-carved chapels, St Nicholas Monastery and otherworldly cave hotels, is worth seeking out for its beauty alone. But its fascinating Coffee Museum, lifting a lid on the origins and history of türk kahve, is the icing on the cake. 

After browsing its impressive collection of antique coffee machines, grinders and cups, swing by the cafe. Alongside richly aromatic Turkish coffee, it also serves other traditional coffees, such as Çanakkale (chickpea coffee), Tatar (served with clotted cream and ground pistachios), Mihrimah Sultan (Turkish coffee with milk), Dibek (with saffron, cardamon and carob), Hilve (with milk, honey and crushed walnuts), and varieties flavored with wild strawberries, pomegranate and orange.

Make it happen: Cappadocia Coffee Museum opens daily from 9am to 8pm. Traditional sweets like efi badem (bitter almond biscuits) and Medovik honey cake go perfectly with the coffee.

3. Coffee Museum, Safranbolu

Once a stop on the Silk Road linking Europe and Asia, the town of Safranbolu in Türkiye’s northern province of Karabük is a time-capsule, famous for its history and its saffron. A wander through the old town, Çarşı, wings you back to Ottoman times, with timber-framed mansions stacked high above narrow cobbled alleys, a bazaar thrumming with artisans and a 17th-century hammam.

In a beautifully restored, 500-year-old caravanserai, the Coffee Museum whisks you through the history of Turkish coffee, from antique mills to the first cezves and cups from which sultans sipped their morning brew, with insightful snippets on coffee culture and traditions. Linger to sample one of around a dozen different varieties of expertly prepared Turkish coffee, some recreated from historical recipes.

Make it happen: The Coffee Museum is open from 9am to 5pm daily. Its arcaded courtyard offers peaceful respite from the hubbub of the district’s old bazaar.

4. Fazıl Bey, Istanbul

Coffee is artistry in Turkish culture and you’d be hard pushed to find a finer cup in Istanbul than at Fazıl Bey. Going strong with beans and gossip since 1923, this raved-about khavehan (coffeeshop) is on Serasker Caddesi in the hip, happening, harborside neighborhood of Kadıköy on the Asian shore of Istanbul. The interior is retro-chic, with mosaic tiled floors, whitewashed brick walls, Thonet-style tables perfect for conversing and old coffee sacks.  

The cafe is named after esteemed Ottoman poet Fazıl Bey, and there is poetry in every cup here. The dark-roast beans come from Brazil and are finely ground to create a marvelously aromatic Turkish brew. You can also try traditional Turkish sahlep, a sweet, milky, cinnamon-dusted drink thickened with flour from wild orchid tubers.

Make it happen: The coffee shop opens from 8am to midnight daily, and there’s outdoor seating if you fancy watching the world drift by.

5. Tahmis Kahvesi, Gaziantep

In southeastern Anatolia, Gaziantep is a wondrously chaotic, fast-paced, history-rammed, food-loving city that has hands-down one of Türkiye’s best coffee scenes. Its famous fıstıklar (pistachios) pop up in all kinds of delicious specialities. Diving into its mazy bazaar, Bakırcılar Çarşısı, is like rewinding the clocks several centuries, with coppersmiths, cobblers, spice vendors and craftspeople plying a trade under vaulted ceilings.

Amid all of this bustle is the unmissable Tahmis Kahvesi, which has been giving locals a donkey’s hind leg of a caffeine kick since 1635, making it one of the country’s oldest coffeehouses. The cafe hums with locals sipping Turkish, Menengiç (pistachio) and spiced Ottoman coffee, as well as varieties flavored with strawberry, mastic and cardamom. The decor is a blast from the past, with gilt-framed oil paintings, chandeliers and a soaring wooden ceiling.

Make it happen: The coffeehouse is open from 8am to midnight daily. Be sure to order some of the excellent pistachio baklava to go with your coffee.

6. Şark Kahvesi, Istanbul

Busily brewing coffee in cezves over hot sand and pouring it with precision for more than 50 years, this coffeehouse in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is a classic. But even classics get makeovers. A couple of years ago, Şark Kahvesi ditched its vintage vibes for a glam new interior courtesy of British design studios Timothy Oulton. Now a legend has been reborn among the vaults and skylights and labyrinthine stone passageways pounded by centuries of shoe leather.

Step inside and feel the chaos and clamor of the bazaar slip away like water off a camel’s back amid an interior of plum velvet banquettes, Verde marble and brass tables, Thonet chairs and potted olive trees. Your eye will inevitably be drawn to the montage of 300 vintage silver teapots. Try a pistachio coffee with one of the tempting sweetmeats from the counter.

Make it happen: The coffee shop opens from 8:30am to 8pm Monday to Saturday, closing (like the bazaar) on Sundays.

7. Kahveci Ömer Usta, İzmir

A rich blend of Greek, Roman and Ottoman heritage, the laid-back seafront city of İzmir dazzles with the light of the Aegean and bubbles with energy. The city has had something of a third-wave coffee boom recently, and micro-roasters are popping up all over the place.

But to really feel İzmir’s traditional heartbeat, leave the latte set behind and instead head to Kemeraltı Çarşısı, the city’s enthralling bazaar, brim-full of artisans’ workshops, mosques, synagogues, hidden courtyards, caravanserais and coffeeshops. The most famous of these – and rightfully so – is Kahveci Ömer Usta, where you can kick back on low-cushioned sofas and sip a potent fincanda pişen türk kahvesi, Turkish coffee cooked in the cup (as opposed to in the usual cezve).

Make it happen: The coffeehouse opens from 9am to 8pm daily. While you’re in the area, take a peek at the spectacularly domed Hisar Mosque, dating from 1597.

What you need to know 

How to prepare the perfect Turkish coffee 

Most of us are just used to flicking a switch when we want to make a coffee, but türk kahve is not your ordinary filtered brew. Great pride and ceremony still goes into making this traditional drink and getting the perfect cup requires patience and skill. 

Firstly, the finest beans (usually the aromatic arabica variety) are chosen and finely ground. The ground coffee is then added to water and sugar and cooked – never brought to a full boil – over a low heat in a cezve. The foam is the sign of a good Turkish coffee and is usually removed. The coffee is then brewed again and poured into a dainty cup called a fincan, often with an ornate silver cup holder. 

Something sweet on the side? Locals will often serve their coffee with a piece of lokum or baklava – a match made in heaven for the pungent brew.

How to order and drink Turkish coffee 

Beyond sade kahve (unsweetened coffee), Turkish coffee has three levels of sweetness. As a rule of thumb, ask for your coffee az şekerli (a little sweet) and they will stir in half a teaspoon, orta şekerli (medium sweet) one teaspoon and çok şekerli (sweet) around two teaspoons per cup.

Coffee is generally served with a glass of water, which lets you cleanse your palate while allowing the coffee to cool. Because of the fine grind and long brewing time, Turkish coffee can be mouth-puckeringly strong and packs a hard caffeine punch, so go easy and sip it slowly. The coffee is served with the grounds, so stop drinking before you reach the sludgy sediment at the bottom of the cup, or swish to remix the grounds with the water. 

Finding fortune in the beans

You might think that coffee works enough magic as a morning caffeine fix, but there is more to these beans than meets the eye – or so say a new-generation of coffee fans who are reviving the ancient harem art of tasseography, or fortune telling by reading the leftover coffee grounds. The ritual involves swirling the grounds around, quickly upturning the cup onto the saucer and making a wish. The grounds reveal patterns and symbols that can be interpreted as meaning different things – a bird for good news, an evil eye for bad energy or envy, or flames for new love, for instance.

If you’re into this in a big way, you might want to buy some beans, brew up a Turkish coffee and give it a whirl when back at home, using an app like fortune-telling Faladdin to upload a picture of your coffee cup for a digital reading.