How to Make Turkish Tea: The Perfect Cup of Çay Recipe

Holding two glasses of red Turkish tea in traditional glasses with spoons and sugar, steam coming off top — Delicious Turkish tea

More than a few visitors leave Turkey with the taste of delicious Turkish tea fresh on their palates and, more than likely, with a box or two of tea to make in their own houses.

What is a good recipe for authentic Turkish Tea? To brew Turkish tea you don’t need to be a master but, as always, there are some very important tricks to replicating authentic Turkish tea. Of course, those tricks won’t work if your tea is not of good quality. However, you can also waste quality tea without the necessary tricks.

Related content: Turkish Drinks: 10 Popular Beverages Turkey Can’t Live Without

Popular tea brand: Çaykur Tiryaki Çayı

In Turkey, the whole eastern Black Sea coast is lined with tea farms and there are dozens of different brands to buy. (If you haven’t purchased your tea yet, our recommendation is “Çaykur Tiryaki Çayı“, which you can find in every market for approximately 50TL per kilo, and different sized packages are available.)

Most of Turkey’s black tea is processed using an oxidization method, so boiling hot water is necessary in order to successfully brew it. Further, using bottled water or water which doesn’t contain traces of lime will make a big difference in the taste of your tea, as will the use of a porcelain teapot.

How to make Turkish tea:

The proper method of making Turkish tea includes the following steps:

We boil water in two different pots – using one small pot for a very strong tea brew, and a larger pot (or kettle) for additional boiled water.
Boil your water in the smaller pot. To the boiled water, add one teaspoon of tea into the pot for each glass (100mL) you will serve. Allow the mixture to brew for approximately 10 minutes – there is no need for reheating.
Boil the additional water in your larger pot (or kettle).
To serve: Fill each glass only 1/3 with the brewed tea mixture. The rest of the glass should be topped with additional boiled water. However, the proportions can be adjusted to suit your taste. A good Turkish tea should be almost red in colour when served. You can (as the Turks do!) add sugar to your liking.

We hope you will remember how to make Turkish Tea and keep brewing it. Enjoy your authentic Turkish tea!