Turkish Tea (Çay)
ترکی چائے (چائے)
Turks drink more tea per person than almost anyone in the world, and it's nothing like our doodh patti. There's no milk and no boiling. Strong black tea is brewed slowly in the small top pot of a , while water simmers in the large pot below. Each glass is poured part strong tea, part hot water, so everyone gets it the way they like: dark (*koyu*) or light (*açık*). It's served in small, tulip-shaped glasses, ruby red, with sugar cubes on the side.
- ⏱ Total: 17 min
- Prep: 2 min
- Cook: 15 min
- Easy
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Fill the bottom pot of a (or a kettle) with the water and bring it to a boil. Put the dry tea leaves in the small top pot and set it on top so the leaves warm in the steam.
When the water boils, pour about 1½ cups of it over the leaves in the top pot. Refill the bottom pot with water if needed and put the top pot back on.
Turn the heat to the lowest setting and let the tea brew slowly in the steam for 12–15 minutes, without boiling. The leaves will sink to the bottom when it's ready.
Pour the strong tea into small glasses, filling them a third to half full, then top up with hot water from the bottom pot: less water for dark tea, more for light. The colour should be a clear rabbit's-blood red.
Serve with sugar cubes on the side. Keep the çaydanlık on low heat so refills are always ready.
Kitchen notes
Never boil the tea itself. Boiling makes Turkish tea bitter and cloudy.
No çaydanlık? Stack a small teapot on top of a saucepan of simmering water. It works the same way.
Pakistani granular tea brews too fast and strong for this. Use whole-leaf tea such as Ceylon or an orange pekoe.
Tea all day
In Turkey, tea is offered in every shop, office and home. Tea boys carry trays of glasses through the bazaars, and refusing a glass is almost impossible. Most of it is grown in Rize, on the Black Sea coast, which is why it’s often called Rize tea.
The çaydanlık method
The double teapot is the secret. The bottom pot boils water; the top pot holds a strong concentrate brewed gently in the rising steam. Because the tea never boils, it stays clear and smooth, not bitter. Each person then decides how strong they want it by mixing concentrate and hot water in the glass.
Light or dark?
- Koyu (dark): half tea, half water, or more tea.
- Açık (light): a third tea, two thirds water.
- Tavşan kanı (rabbit’s blood): the ideal, a clear ruby red.
Pakistani notes
Pakistani tea granules are designed to boil quickly in milk and are too strong for this method. Use a loose whole-leaf black tea. If you don’t have a çaydanlık, a small teapot sitting on a saucepan of simmering water does exactly the same job.
Serving
Serve with sugar cubes, at breakfast with menemen, after meals, and with baklava. For a caffeine-free Turkish tea, try elma çayı, apple tea.
Questions people ask
Do Turks add milk?
No. Turkish tea is always drunk without milk, usually with one or two sugar cubes.
Why the small glasses?
The small tulip glasses keep each serving hot and let you see the colour. Turks drink many small glasses through the day rather than one big cup.
How long does brewed tea last?
About an hour on the lowest heat. After that it turns bitter; brew a fresh pot.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 15
- Protein
- 0 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 4 g
