The day many of us have been dreading has finally arrived: an entrepreneur in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep has announced the development of instant Turkish coffee. Could this mean the end of hundreds of years of tradition? Sludgy and dark Turkish coffee, of course, is not only about the flavor but also about the process of making it -- the scooping in of the finely ground coffee and sugar, the mixing and the careful boiling. Is this the kind of beverage that deserves the instant treatment?
Semsettin Yildiz, maker of the new "Shazili" brand of instant Turkish coffee certainly thinks so. “Because it does not require the regular cooking process, we believe our brand will be very much preferred at offices and on airplanes, by drivers, at coffee shops, while on the beach, or while camping and picnicking," he told the state-run Anatolian Agency.
Yildiz clearly has big plans for his coffee, which will be produced in both sweetened and unsweetened versions. “By January 2011, both Turkey and the rest of the world will know about Shazili Instant Turkish Coffee,” he told AA. More details here.
Turkish coffee making has already been on a slippery slope since one Turkish appliance manufacturer introduced a few years ago a machine that brews that stuff without any human intervention.
Fortunately, there are still places left in Turkey that make the country's namesake coffee the old-fashioned way. For a truly satisfying coffee experience, visit Istanbul's Mandabatmaz, just off the pedestrian-only Istiklal boulevard. A review of the place can be found here.
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