[Turkey] Beverage

I forgot to drinks from the last post. Well the thing about drinks in Turkey is, well, it's almost always Cay. There are other traditional drinks that I would like to try, like the Sahlep and Boza, but these are available in the winter so I haven't been able to find them on the street or at restaurants. Sahlep is a hot, sweet beverage served with cinnamon on top. It's relative to hot chocolate for Americans. Boza is a fermented drink made from corn and other stuff (not quite sure..) and its popular in Eastern Europe and Turkey, though each country usually adds something of their own. So I'm still working on these two.. but I have tried Ayran, which is like a salty yogurt. It sounds rather odd, but it goes well with kebab and other Turkish meals. I had it by itself for breakfast and it tasted awkward.. probably need to have it couple more times to enjoy it.

So for the main part, it's cay. Not even coffee. Little did I know, "coffee" that we (as in those who are American, Japanese, or Canadian) know is not a "global" term. Not a single country I've been to so far has served me the coffee that I expect when I just say "coffee". In Turkey, you have to order "Nescafe" to get something close to a coffee. Even when it comes, it's extremely thick and is nothing like the Americano that you have at Starbucks (or Tim Hortons, sorry Canadians). You know when sometimes you fail to make coffee and the water mixes with the grinded beans, so it becomes really thick and discusting? That's nescafe. It's usually served with mineral water because it's so thick. So whenever I see a coffee vending machine on the street, I must have it. I found one in the Military Museum yesterday..and had a cappuccino.

Never betrays. And cheap.

So for about a month I've been running mainly on tea..which isn't that bad. But I have to limit myself to couple a day because it's not like back home where I can drink it like water. Cay is usually the least expensive on the menu (about .75-1 TL).

The latest from my Cay collection