Introduced to Turkey in the sixteenth century, coffee has played an important role in Turkish life ever since.    A Turkish proverb says   "A single cup of coffee is remembered for forty years". 

Not to be offered a cup of coffee by your host would suggest that you are considered unworthy of the honour.  Coffee is served to guests at the start of any visit and always after meals.

Even if you are not much of a coffee drinker, it is considered impolite to refuse a cup of coffee  because you are rejecting the hospitality and friendship of your host.

Coffee is believed to have been first cultivated in Yemen, and via the ottoman Empire the habit of drinking coffee spread to Turkey, where the world’s first coffee shop, Kiva Han opened in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1475.

Turkish coffee is boiled on the stove, usually three times.   If you like your coffee sweet, sugar is added during the final boiling process, never after the coffee is served.

In a restaurant you can ask for your coffee to be sweet, medium or plain – sekerli, orta or sade.

The ability to brew good coffee is much prized.  A prospective bride is judged by her in-laws on her ability to make coffee.  A poor coffee maker will not make a good wife but a clever girl, not keen on her chosen future husband, will put salt not sugar in the coffee as it is boiling, thus avoiding an unwanted marriage.

And if you want to know what your future holds, a cup of Turkish coffee may give you the answer.  After you have drunk your coffee (taking care not to accidentally swallow the grounds in the bottom of the cup), place the saucer on top of the cup and make a wish.  Hold the cup at chest level and turn counter clockwise a few times, then turn the cup upside down onto the saucer and leave for a few minutes to let the grounds dry.

When you turn the cup the right way up again, the grounds will have formed into shapes and symbols.  The symbols create a story, for example, if you see a butterfly you will be lucky in love but if the butterfly is near lines or tracks, you must make a journey to find love!  Does a shape in your coffee look like a rat? Beware of theft but if there is a dot or dots nearby, the stolen article will be returned.

You can interpret your own cup but as so many people in Turkey are skilled in reading coffee grounds, you should never have trouble finding somebody to tell you what your future holds.