Good Morning, Coffee Republic

Greetings. I'm a coffee-addict and I love trying new recipes everyday. I won't be posting recipes on this blog cause I don't fancy cookbooks. I only post stuff about 'coffee'. All the good beans will be served in my way. Cheers.

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Manda Batmaz : Bigger on the inside of your cuppa.

Mandabatmaz may look like "just another coffee shop" in Taksim, Istanbul with half an eye. There's nothing in this cafe that we could correlate with the concept of haughtiness. However, According to Food Riot, Mandabatmaz's No.1 coffee shop you must visit before you die. Moreover, Their list's based on a global rank. Oh la la.

What's Manda Batmaz, monsieur?

Cemil Filik, both the founder of Mandabatmaz coffee recipe and the cafe", told a journalist a couple of years ago: "We're against coffee chains like Starbucks. They should come and taste our Turkish Coffee. We're the masters." He was right.

Mandabatmaz, Manda(Buffalo) and Batmaz (Ain't Sink) is a noun phrase. Mandabatmaz might be roughly interpreted as "Even a buffalo can't sink if you put it on your cup" Mandabatmaz cafe has the most foamy Turkish coffee around the world thanks to their baking style. You have to wait till your bartender bakes your coffee on a cuprous pot as a decent Turkish Coffee has to be served respectively. By the way, Just 8-10 people can be served at a time. So, You have to wait as in old days. In a nutshell, They truly are the masters of Turkish Coffee. 

Ancient Beans of our times. 

In order to fully understand the history of Mandabatmaz, We have to date back to the Ottoman Empire. The governor of Abyssinia brought the coffee beans and the culture to the Empire in early 1500s. The whole nation admired both the beans and the coffee culture. In Ottoman era, People would talk about art, literature and social matters. Finally, People started talking about politics at coffee shops and the governors with the accompany of religious authorities sensed the jeopardy. Even such tiny beans changed the social life of the Ottoman Empire. Yet, No matter how hard they tried to keep the shops closed, People didn't give a damn about the prohibition and the gov't took a step behind unwillingly. We've been enjoying the scent and taste of Turkish Coffee since early 1500s. World has changed  a lot but the taste of Turkish coffee's as admirable as it was in 1500s thanks to Manda Batmaz and Cemil Filik. 

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The holy month of Ramadan : A coffee-addict's Ramadan guide.

Bon Ramadan a tous my Muslim fellows!

It's almost the end of the holy month Ramadan. I've been fasting without a break so far. It's been extremely challenging cause the coffee deficiency caused me so much trouble other than hunger or thirst would. On the other hand, I've heard that the overdose of coffee between iftar and suhoor could have some vital effects on your body. May Allah bless the coffee-addicts!

First of all, I should mention about my personal experiences. During a day when I fast; I come across zillions of coffee ads, I see tons of people having their coffee at coffee shops while passing by, I receive e-mails about the coffee groups from Indonesia including tons of special offers that I could smell even from the e-mail, etc.. It's like Satan having some exclusive grudge on me, eh? I tried hard not to switch to the dark side, indeed. One day I got enough of the mental torture in which I could find schizophrenic side of my addicted self. I opened the coffee chart (The chart in which I include all the basic global forms of coffee) and checked out the specifications of the coffee types. I figured out that Venezuelan and Turkish forms of coffee must be the only one I could drink all suhoor long. I'm thankful for Pop Chart Lab for inspiring me about the coffee chart.

What to drink, When to drink?

At Iftar, I tend to think about breaking my fast with a cup of triple espresso cause of the deficiency. Yet, No matter how this idea look chic, it's harmful for our worthless human bodies. Caffeine harms your gastric mucosa cause it sets the gastric juices free on an empty stomach. We're not talking about liberalizing a country. It's your body! So, Please consider drinking coffee 3 hours after your meal. Also, You shouldn't do what I've been doing so far! The first cuppa I pour down is a filtered coffee without cream/milk or it's a triple espresso with bitter chocolate flavor which is even worse than filtered coffee. Try soft Arabica types. My favourite one is 'Cinnamon Latte'.

What if you crave for a cuppa during/before Suhoor? If there are three hours till suhoor and you need something tough, I strongly recommend you to try Turkish coffee. In addition to its magnificent scent and perfect body, the presentation of Turkish coffee will help you to get to the Ramadan groove. It's a unique type of coffee that's served with its grounds! There's also another like Venezuelan coffee which has similarities with Turkish coffee when it comes to its body. If you fancy a cuppa during suhoor, I recommend a fruit-based, soft-bodied types. You'll need recipes and more effort for these types of coffee. (You can contact me for the specific recipes you may like.)

P.S. During Eid al-Fitr I'll be providing articles about the importance of coffee in Turkish-Islamic lifestyle.

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Coffee & Chocolate : The pleasurable love formula

As for me, There are two main chocolate types, Bitter and Milk chocolate. We can say the same for coffee in this perspective. Coffea Robusta refers to "Bitter" when Arabica refers to "Milk chocolate". FYI, I'm not such an expert to write ornate comments on Coffea Robusta. Yet, I know what sort of chocolate one should consume with a cup of freshly brewed Coffea Robusta of Africa or Sumatra if you're an Indonesia-minded like me.

Let's start with the mighty Arabica first. If your beans are tougher than Arnold Schwarzenegger on Conan the Barbarian, I strongly suggest you to get the milky tuffle packs of Godiva or Leonidas with your freshly brewed dark coffee. As a matter of fact, Any local brand would suit your coffee. Nevertheless, Godiva and Leonidas are the only catalysts for the maximized pleasure of the contrast with their high quality content. Conversely, What if your Arabica's as blond(e) as Marilyn Monroe? In my book, A cup/bowl of coffee always has to be dark.  If I were in a situation when I have to drink a soft-as-silk cup of Arabica, I'd mix it up with a long tablet of Lindt's Chilli chocolate. Not only Lindt's Chilli is seriously chilly, but also it's dark enough to enjoy your latte-ish filtered coffee. Ah, That's a quirk of fate! Briefly, After the brewing session, A blond roast should be blended with a bar/tablet of bitter. There's also another option for children or the ones suffering from sicknesses that prevent them to consume coffee as we know it. In my book, Diabetic chocolates befit an extremely blond Arabica roast's dignity.  What about Coffea Robusta? Frankly, I haven't had so many experiences with Coffea Robusta beans not because it's hard to obtain Coffea Robusta beans in Turkey, but because I always tend to keep it for new recipes. Considering that I've drunk 20-25 cups so far, I can roughly describe how it tastes. From its body to the recipes from the infamous chefs, Everything's dark about Coffea Robusta. Arabica contains 1.7% caffeine and Coffea Robusta contains 2.7%, according to Wikipedia. Triple espresso anyone? Anyways, You should go and get a huge box of white chocolates of any kind if you've got a pack of Coffea Robusta beans. If you try it with a dark chocolate, you may end up with calling 911. Yet, If you're a chocolate-addict, You should add Guylian, Neuhaus and Lindt to your bill. Godiva and Leonidas are my favourites. Yet, They're not reputable in each and every sort they serve when Lindt's the best of best in every package that gives her name to. You can add Callier of Switzerland, Favarger and Villars to the list but I don't suggest you to consume them with coffee. Enjoy your cuppa!

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Coffee Ramen : A Japanese touch to coffee beans.

I came a across a blog post of a travel blogger mentioning about a quirky mission. Here I quote :

"I saw this on the Japanese news today: That’s right. Coffee flavored ramen. It’s a 5-minute walk from Ohanachaya station on the Keisei line. And it’s apparently pretty good. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to eat this strange ramen and let me know how it tastes. Good luck and godspeed!"

Coffee Ramen? Another 'WTF Japan' post or an undiscovered oasis?

No sooner than I'm done with reading the brief, I went online and searched 'Coffee Ramen' thoroughly. Yet, I couldn't find anything palatable to ease the hunger inside my heart. All I could gather after a long research about the fabulous Coffee Ramen was 'How to make ramen on Kettle' sort of recipes and Yuji Haraguchi's infamous Ramen Restaurant in NYC offering their customers 'Coffee Ramen'. Unfortunately, It's nothing but a sort of Ramen which's served with a French Press filled with shoyu broth and bonito flakes.

Eventually, Yahoo Japan saved my life.

I found millions of recipes of real Coffee Ramen and restaurants around the world serving coffee ramen. According to the info I've gathered so far, The vital part of cooking Coffee Ramen is having coffee flavoured noodles and adding coffee flavours to broth. The commentators of Tabelog who've had the tasty experience of ramen made it clear that they'll visit the Ramen Shop once again. I've already listed "eating it" on my 'What's a boy to do in Japan?' list.

Here's a Coffee-men (Literally, Coffee-Ramen) Shop in Japan.

For the sake of coffee beans, Go and taste Coffee Ramen! In conclusion, I'm asking you to go taste it if you're near Ohanachaya.

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Starbucks : Why should I join the boycott against the love of my life?

First of all, I'd better explain why Starbucks refers to 'The Love of my Life' in my book.

I've been an avid Starbucks drinker for years. Aside from being a gold member of Starbucks  for a year now thanks to a CoFFriend -a term I use when I fancy defining a friend of mine who's also a coffee-addict like I am- , I've been a Starbucks-enthuisast since the breath-taking performance of Sean Penn on I AM SAM as a barista of Sbux.

    Cancelled the membership immediately! Everyone knows what's been happening in Gezi Park of Taksim so far. I'm not here to discuss politics but human rights mean worlds to me and I used to think that Starbucks had the same values. They proved it well that they don't have any moral values by my chance.  

Real £¥£$, Realize, Real Lies! 

The blasphemous demeanors of Sbux staff against the occupiers opened my eyes. Simply, I called everyone I consider a gold-member-dude to ask for joining me in boycott and I told them what the staff did to the innocent people. I couldn't get enough of it and I cancelled my membership. Besides, I contacted the help desk to ask if they were happy with the little campaign I ran against them. 

"Leave Starbucks, Join US", I shrieked! I arrived in Istanbul after the hate crimes took place against the Starbuckers here. There weren't so much a ballyhole in front of the Sbuxes located in Anatolian side of Istanbul, I thought. I was on my way to Caribou Coffee in which I found the comfort of Sbux without the high quality coffee beans served instead of their crap. I saw these people greedily articulating: "Leave Starbucks, Join Us." Such a holistic shout out to the starbuckers.

I marched with an old lady in front of Sbux who later kissed me on my cheek and whispered : 'May God be with you folks'. I'll never forget her! 

What happened to you? I thought I knew you!

To tell you the truth, There's noone around me giving a darn about my words on Starbucks cause they know that I'm in love with her. I truly am and I don't even believe in what I said. Fortunately, YouTube and Twitter keep the fire alive with the truths. I'm not happy in Caribou with their low-cost-infrastructure on coffee beans but they know how to interact with poeple. Besides the staff of Caribou must have been well educated about the Human Rights.

P.S : I hope this blog will be seen by a money-worshipper who's investing in Starbucks. 

[coffeerepublicawakes]

Say hello to barrister, Mr. Anar.

Greetings, 

Now that we're here eventually mentioning about coffee, I must confess that I've been postponing the task "Write the 'Hello World' post on your coffee-log mofo" for -like- months now. Nah! You don't know the half of it. It'd feel like humiliation to each and every cuppa I have poured down every single day so far. So, Here we go! 

Anyway it's high time for me to have saluted you all. So, Howdy. :)

Who the heck are you Mr. Anar?

I'm a long-term coffee addict. I've been a drinker for such a long time that I don't even remember my first cuppa now. Even though my family are not that interested in coffee, My hometown -maybe the whole MidEast- are coffee-addicts just like Brazilians in Americas. I believe that every continent has some nutcracks who cannot lead their lives w/o coffee beans. So, You're reading the blog of the CEO of Coffee-Nutcraks' Association in Mid-East, lol.

So, Why have you created this blog mister?

I'm just bored to death. *just kidding* I'm sick and tired of thumbing onto my history on social networks like Twitter and Instagram to find what I -simply- have drunk so far. Besides, I experience the pleasure (I'll tell you about this later) and live in every single picture I take. I mean the silhoutte of my cup and the freshly brewed beans inside of my favourite Sbux cup. On the other hand, It doesn't mean that I'm so lazy to post everything on Evernote and check them out when I go so romantic before sleeping. I just wanna share my cuppa with addicts like me. There's no other reason lying behind this blog. So, Stop looking up my name on FBI's top secret networks or just backchatting about me. Just saying. :)

That'll be an important part of my further posts : 'What am I drinking now?'

Each and every blog has its own rules, nature and atmosphere. So, I've got my own, too. I'll be posting 'what I'm about to drink/drinking now' at the end of the each post. I'm not showing-off bitches! I'm an addict, lol.

P.S : Now that we're boycotting Starbucks in Turkey because of the inconvenient demeanours of the staff to the occupiers in Taksim, I've run out of my last beans a week ago. So, My mouth's been dull and heavy for a week. God bless bucks.

In the end, It's been an extremely short - according to a keyboad-nagger like me - but informative 'HELLO WORLD' post so far. It's time to cut the ceremony out, eh? Hey! Don't worry cause there'll be tons of beans here from this day on. So, Get ready.

Enjoy ya' cuppa everyone.

Hugs and kisses for now.