I’ve been studying wine and spirits for over two decades. Whenever we travel, I’m obsessed with what I call drinks culture — what a country’s drinks reveal about its people, history, and habits.

I’ve been known to order several drinks off a menu – just so I can taste them. And I could spend hours in the local grocery/wine/liquor store just studying the shelves. Ken is not as enthusiastic about this activity, so I usually send him off to climb a mountain or something.

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We were only on the ground in Istanbul for 48 hours – I did my best with the drinks. Without further delay, here is my local drinks culture report (aka what to drink) from Istanbul, Türkiye:

Tea Time is ALL the Time

Forget coffee – Türkiye runs on tea, or çay (pronounced “chai”). In the 48 hours we were in Türkiye, I think I drank 36 cups of tea. You cannot start a conversation, finish a meal, or shop for rugs without tea. It’s an unspoken rule of hospitality. Turkish tea always arrives in these cute little tulip-shaped glasses – which are cultural emblems – and will absolutely burn your fingerprints off if you’re not careful how you pick them up. I suspect watching tourists try to drink out of these little hot-as-lava cups is entertaining for the locals.

The tea on the left (above) is actually apple tea. Ken hates tea, but Josef (the rug show guy) was prepared for tea haters. The Turks don’t really drink apple tea – it’s mostly for tourists. In the late 20th century, vendors realized that visitors found Turkish tea a bit intense, so they offered something sweeter and lighter. Enter this instant apple-flavored tea powder. It might be for tourists, but hey, I’m a tourist – and I thought it was pretty yummy.

Fun fact: Turkish tea is brewed in a two-tier pot. The larger bottom pot boils the water, while the smaller upper pot brews a strong tea concentrate. Everyone has their own idea about how strong tea should be, so you can customize it depending on your preference. Ken’s preference is Diet Coke. For the record, no hospitality Diet Coke in Türkiye.

Tea is so deeply woven into Turkish culture that it feels timeless, but tea only became widespread in the 20th century. Before that, coffee was the drink of choice. After World War I, the cost of coffee became prohibitive, so in the 1920s and 30s, the Turkish government began planting tea in the Black Sea region, where the climate is ideal for that activity. By the 1940s, Turkish-grown tea was flourishing, and drinking tea became a national habit. Over time, the çayhane (tea house) replaced the old Ottoman coffeehouse as the center of social life.

Turkish Coffee Break

I asked our guide if more Turkish people drink tea or coffee. He said, tea. No question. That said, Turkish coffee culture is a deeply rooted tradition that extends way beyond the act of drinking coffee. Because if it was just about drinking coffee, I’m not sure anyone would drink it. Turkish coffee is a ritual, a tradition, and occasionally, a fortune-telling session.

Turkish coffee is prepared by boiling very finely ground coffee beans (roughly the consistency of flour) with water in a small copper pot called a cezve. It’s served in a very small cup (similar to espresso). The finished coffee is very strong, very bitter, and has the consistency of sludge. I honestly wasn’t sure whether to sip it or chew it. Not my thing.

Bonus: Turkish coffee isn’t just coffee – it’s also a tiny, caffeinated séance. After you finish drinking your coffee, you’re supposed to flip the cup upside down so your buddy can read your future. The oracle of Istanbul (aka my coffee grounds) told our carpet salesman that I would have many journeys ahead. The oracle told me that coffee filters are underrated.

A Few Words About Alcohol in Türkiye

Alcohol has a long and complex history in Türkiye. Being a predominantly Muslim country, I wondered what and how readily available alcohol would be in Türkiye.

🍇 Ancient Roots

Long before the rise of the Ottoman Empire, Anatolia was home to some of the world’s earliest wine production. Archaeological evidence suggests that winemaking in Türkiye dates back over 6,000 years – making it one of the birthplaces of viticulture.

☪️ The Ottoman Era

With the establishment of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century, the official Islamic stance on alcohol brought restrictions, but not total prohibition. Non-Muslim communities (Greeks, Armenians, Jews) continued to produce and consume alcohol, especially wine and raki, the famous anise-flavored spirit that would later become a national symbol. Over time, the empire introduced regulations and taxes rather than outright bans, balancing moral codes with economic realities.

🇹🇷 The Republic and Modernization

After the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk promoted a more secular and Western-oriented society. Alcohol production and consumption became normalized, and raki emerged as a cultural icon .

🏙️ Today’s Landscape

Modern Turkey presents an interesting duality: Alcohol is legal and widely available, especially in urban and coastal areas. However, taxes are high (the Turkish government imposes some of the highest alcohol taxes in Europe), advertising is restricted, and public attitudes vary widely depending on region and lifestyle.

Despite these contrasts, wine tourism in the Cappadocia and Thrace regions, craft beer movements, and boutique raki distilleries are growing – reflecting Turkey’s rich heritage and evolving relationship with alcohol.

Raki: The Lion’s Milk

Raki is the national spirit and cultural icon of Türkiye. If tea is the daily drink, Raki is the drink for toasts, long dinners, and deep conversations. It’s a very strong, slightly sweet, anise (black licorice) flavored liquor that’s similar to (but definitely not the same as) Greek Ouzo. Ouzo is a little less strong, but sweeter. If I had to choose one – I’d go with Ouzo.

Raki is also called aslan sütü, or lion’s milk, because when you add water, it turns a cloudy white color. Aslan is used metaphorically in Turkish to mean a strong, courageous person – as in only an aslan would drink Raki.

I love both black licorice and ouzo, so Raki is right up my alley. Traditionally, Raki was something that mostly only men drank. It’s only recently become something more women enjoy drinking. This explains why, both times I ordered Raki, the waiter looked at me like I had two heads and asked, “Are you sure you want this?”.

Dude, I’m sure.

Wine

Türkiye has been making wine since the Stone Age. There’s evidence of viticulture in Anatolia dating back over 6,000 years. Under Greek, Roman, and later Byzantine rule, viticulture and winemaking flourished across Anatolia. Things got a little complicated during the Ottoman Empire, where alcohol existed in a curious gray zone – officially frowned upon, but widely produced and enjoyed in private taverns and by non-Muslim communities. The modern Turkish Republic revived winemaking in the 20th century, and in recent decades, ambitious boutique wineries have embraced both indigenous grapes (there are somewhere upwards of 1,000 indigenous grape varieties in Türkiye) and international varietals.

Despite deep roots, the Turkish wine industry still faces hurdles: domestic consumption is relatively low, export penetration is modest at best, and regulatory/tax burdens remain.

On the recommendation of our waiter, we tried this Turkish red wine (see photo) with dinner. It was . . . wine. Perfectly OK, but nothing I would ever seek out again.

Turkish Beer

Türkiye is famous for Raki and strong tea, but it also has an under-the-radar (way under-the-radar) beer culture. Türkiye doesn’t drink a lot of beer compared with the rest of Europe. Not a shocker, since Türkiye is a predominantly Muslim country.

The most popular Turkish mainstream beer is Efes, born in the 1960s and a staple in almost every bar and restaurant. I’d never choose it over a German beer, but it’s a decent enough beer flavored beer. Over the last decade, Türkiye has seen a growing craft beer scene, with independent breweries experimenting with local ingredients like honey, grape molasses, and rosehips. I have a rule that beer should taste like beer and not (insert your favorite weirdo ingredient), so if I’m ever back in Türkiye, I’ll stick with Efes.

Fanta Notes

If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably know I have an obsession with Fanta Lemon. We can’t get it in the US, and I absolutely love it. So whenever I’m out of the country, I’m on the hunt for a fix.

Türkiye is not a Fanta Lemon country. They have plenty of Fanta Orange, though. Btw, Fanta Orange in Europe is far less syrupy sweet than it is in the US, so I will drink it if Fanta Lemon isn’t available. I bought this cheery yellow can one morning (see photo) hoping it would be Turkish Fanta Lemon. It was not. It was Turkish lemon tea. Yummy, but not Fanta Lemon.

Final Sip

Turkish drink culture is less about what you drink and more about how you drink it – slowly and socially. In Türkiye, every sip – whether tea, coffee, or raki – is an invitation to slow down, talk, and connect . . . and sometimes buy rugs.

Şerefe (cheers)!