This post brought to you by the letter T

Okay, so my friend Melanie told me that I should learn to have boundaries with my gastronical experience here, like I can learn to say no to foods with wheat in them (gives me major digestive issues) and that third cup of tea offered after dinner (I am such a caffeine lightweight, it's ridiculous). But the fact is, I haven't gotten there yet. In fact, tonight's dinner consisted of mostly wheat and tea. But let's focus on the Turkish tea, the reason why I'm up right now (okay, that combined with jet lag, my four hour nap this afternoon, and overall "I'm in a new place" giddiness.)

Witness, friends, the ambrosial tea served in the tulip-shaped glass. You may be familiar with Turkish coffee, but actually Turkish tea has recently become the beverage of choice. After World War 1, when the Ottoman Empire lost much of its territories, coffee became an expensive import. Ataturk, the Nation's founder, encouraged tea growth as a more sustainable domestic product. (More on Ataturk later, btw. The man was AMAZING.) Interestingly, Turkey is now the world's fifth highest producer of tea, right after (for you foodies out there): India, China, Kenya, and Sri Lanka (in order, starting with the greatest producer).

Turks serve the tea in the tulip shape glass to avoid burning their hands, as the tea is served boiling hot. You drop two sugar cubes in the cup, give a stir, then hold the tea by the rim, sip it, and scald the hell out of your tongue. Or, if you're a bit more practical, you actually wait a little bit and let it cool down. No one adds milk.

Turks evolved their own way of making and producing the black tea, called Çay in Turkish. The tea is largely produced in a province near the Black Sea called Rize, an area with a mild climate, high precipitation, and fertile soil. But what really makes it stand out is how they make it: the tea is made with two stacked kettles; water is brought to a boil in the larger, lower kettle, and then some of the water is used to fill the kettle on top with hot water and several scoops of tea leaves. The drinker can choose to have the tea strong, koyu; (literally "dark") or weak, açık; (literally "light"). To make it weak, they dilute the tea with the remaining hot water.

I think I need to memorize the word açık, because it's 1:40am right now and I'm ready to write another blog post. Yikes.

First photo shamelessly stolen from this great website: http://www.allaboutturkey.com/tea.htm. Check them out for tips on how to make Turkish tea.