çay

Çay (which is pronounced "chai") is Turkish tea. Though in the West Turkish coffee is most renowned, in fact it is tea that is consumed most often and is most adored by Turks. In fact, Turks drink the most tea per person out of any country in the world - outdoing even England and Ireland! (yes, Brits, take a few minutes to freak out over that...)

This tea is typically prepared using two stacked kettles specially designed for Turkish çay.

Water is brought to a boil in the larger lower kettle.  Then some of the water is used to fill the smaller kettle on top along with several spoons of loose tea leaves, producing a very strong tea. When you serve the tea, you use the remaining water from the bottom pot to dilute the tea on an individual basis, giving each person the choice between strong or weak. 

Tea is drunk from small tulip-shaped glasses on little saucers - showing its beautiful red colour! - with or without sugar, your choice. (No milk)

This is not a tea reserved for special occasions. Turkish people drink this tea anywhere, anytime. You can buy tea on a ferry, in a park. You can have trays of it brought to your workplace by your local coffee shop, restaurant or sometimes convenience store staff. Here is a good picture I stole from the internet of the type of trays used in this case:

You will see young men from restaurants carrying trays like this to local businesses and shops. In this case, he would return later to collect the glasses and payment. 

If the kids are playing at the park, I might buy tea from someone who wanders through, selling it. I don't know if you can see this picture very well, but you can click to enlarge it. This person looks like he is hanging out there for a while, but often times a man will walk through with a giant thermos and a tray with little disposable cups and sugar and stir sticks... A business on the go...

But really if you are going to be at the park for a long time - why not bring your own? I saw this family setting up at the park the other day, and was delighted to watch this woman pull an entire çay set-up out of her bag!

This is the traditional çaydanlik, on top of what appears to be a teeny tiny gas tank like you might take camping. I was impressed. Turks love their tea. 

If you have a few minutes, check out this video of a talk by Katharine Branning, author of "Yes, I would Love Another Glass of Tea: An American Woman's Letters to Turkey":

Afiyet Olsun! (Bon Appetit!)