How To Make Naqshbandi Sufi Tea

Turkish Tea is one of the staples of the Osmanli Naks-i’bendi-Hakkani Dergah (what is a dergah?). Turkish tea is a brewed tea. It is not bagged and steeped, in fact it is loose but processed leaves, herbs and spices that are brewed for a period of about 15 minutes or more. Our shaykh, Abdul Kerim Hazretleri is fond of good Turkish Tea and we prepare tea for him frequently.

I recently asked a murid, who is in charge of making the tea, what Seyh Efendi’s favorite tea is? He told me that there are a few that our shaykh likes but the one the murid likes to prepare for him more than others is a particular blend of two high quality loose teas, Çaykur (Turkey) and Ahmad Tea (London).

The blend consists of one part Siyah Türk Çayi (Çaykur) and one part Ceylon (Ahmad Tea). These are both black teas but Çaykur’s Turkish Black Tea is lighter and sweeter than the Ceylon grade, whereas the Ceylon is dark and bold. Together they make a perfect blend, a crisp, fruity mild black tea.

clipped from turkishcook.com Brewing Tea In Turkish Style Although there are some different tea brewing styles in Turkey, this one is almost common among Turkish people:First put the water into a kettle, put enough tea into a teapot and put the teapot on the kettle. When the water boils in the kettle, pour some on tea into the teapot. Wait 15 minutes. The tea in the teapot mustn’t be boiled but the water in the kettle must be hot. Then pour brewed tea into teacup (or tea glass), half of the cups must be brewed tea and other half the hot water. Brewing time is longer in Turkey, but they add water to brew and they generally use sugar.