Kahve was a favourite drink of the Ottoman Empire’s ruling class. Little did they know it would one day hasten the empire’s demise
It’s known as Greek coffee to Greeks and Cypriots, Bosnian coffee to Bosnians, Armenian coffee to Armenians, Arabic coffee to Arabs, and Turkish coffee to Turks, Croatians, Albanians and Serbs. But in the mid-16th century, it was just kahve – coffee. At the time, these people were ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, which swept kahve-lovers from south-eastern Europe to Persia into its wide embrace. But by the early years of the 19th century, the empire was beginning to fracture. Kahve played a little-known role in its eventual demise.
Coffee came to Turkey during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. When the man he despatched to govern Yemen came across an energising drink known there as qahwah, he brought it back to the Ottoman court in Constantinople, where it was an instant hit. A palace kahveci usta, or coffee-master, might have tens of assistants helping him grind Arabica beans into an extra-fine powder similar in texture to today’s instant espresso. This was then boiled in copper pots called cezves. The resulting drink – bitter, black and topped with a thin layer of froth created by pouring it quickly – was served in small porcelain cups. To balance its bitterness, legend has it, Suleiman’s wife, Hürrem Sultan, took her kahve with a glass of water and a square of Turkish Delight – which is how it is served in Turkey today.
Not everyone, however, believed that the Koran permitted Muslims to drink this stimulating new beverage. Although Islamic scripture doesn’t specifically mention coffee, one hardline cleric in Suleiman’s court issued a fatwa against the drink on the grounds that consuming anything burnt was forbidden. But that didn’t dampen its appeal. The first public coffee house, or kahvehane, was founded in Istanbul in 1555 by two Syrian merchants. Soon, nearly one in six shops in the city – ranging in size from small neighbourhood cafés to large community centres – served coffee. Gradually, kahve percolated through to the far reaches of the empire....MORE
