Foamy on top, viscous in the middle, sludgy on the bottom -- Turkish coffee is a multilayered and complex thing. Likewise the drink's history, which turns out to be a complicated and no so sweet one. As NPR's Salt blog recounts in a recent post, during the reign of one 17th-century Ottoman sultan, taking a sip of Turkish coffee could lead to big trouble. From the blog:
Sultan Murad IV, a ruler of the Ottoman Empire, would not have been a fan of Starbucks. Under his rule, the consumption of coffee was a capital offense.
The sultan was so intent on eradicating coffee that he would disguise himself as a commoner and stalk the streets of Istanbul with a hundred-pound broadsword. Unfortunate coffee drinkers were decapitated as they sipped.
Murad IV's successor was more lenient. The punishment for a first offense was a light cudgeling. Caught with coffee a second time, the perpetrator was sewn into a leather bag and tossed in the river.
But people still drank coffee. Even with the sultan at the front door with a sword and the executioner at the back door with a sewing kit, they still wanted their daily cup of joe. And that's the history of coffee in a bean skin: Old habits die hard.
The rest of the post can be found here. And for a taste of Turkish coffee as it should be, check out this Istanbul Eats recommendation.
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