Coffee Nomad

I had my first run in with Turkish coffee the other day at Cafe Istanbul, which is an Arabic marketplace/restaurant/hookah bar located in Tempe, AZ on University Dr, near ASU. (All I had was my phone-camera, so you’ll have to excuse the graininess of my pictures).

I had to get it “to go” (sort of) hence the styrofoam cup and to-go box. This was a bit of a let down since I was hoping for an ornate Turkish coffee cup, to make the whole experience seem more authentic.

But even with the styrofoam cup, the coffee was quite enjoyable. It was strong, certainly, to the point of being thick. But it had smooth, mild quality to it that rounded out the flavor to the point that it had a pleasant, dry quality. I actually drank this black since I didn’t want to spoil my first Turkish coffee experience.

As you can tell by the liquid, the cup is sideways when this picture was taken, so evidently the grounds have formed a solid, immovable wall on the bottom of the cup. Way cool.

Throughout this experience I kept thinking of the conversation Viggo Mortensen has with the Sheik about Turkish coffee in the movie Hidalgo:

The Sheik: Most foreigners find our coffee to be too potent.
(Viggo slams down the coffee in one gulp)
Viggo: Back home we toss a horseshoe in the pot. When it stands up straight, coffee’s ready.

Other points of interest for Cafe Istanbul:
– Every Wednesday is Lady’s Night; hookahs are something like $1.99 for the ladies and there’s a belly dancer.
– They have some of the most reasonably priced shisha in town.