Menengiç Coffee

Menengiç coffee (menengiç kahvesi) is a warm, creamy, nutty brew from Gaziantep, made from the roasted and ground fruit of the wild terebinth tree. Although its name contains the word "coffee," it holds no coffee bean and no caffeine; it is made entirely from the terebinth fruit. Traditionally prepared with milk in a copper cezve, with its nutty, faintly piney-resinous notes, menengiç coffee is a distinctive Gaziantep specialty unlike any other drink.

The identity of menengiç coffee springs from two roots: the wild terebinth tree that grows untended across the slopes of Gaziantep and Southeast Anatolia, and the city's deep-rooted taste culture built around the Antep pistachio. Menengiç (also spelled "melengiç") is the wild relative and the traditional grafting rootstock of the pistachio; this drink is therefore tied directly to the city's pistachio-and-terebinth identity. Menengiç coffee is a prestigious Gaziantep heritage protected at an international level — registered both as a Designation of Origin in TÜRKPATENT's geographical-indication register and as an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

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What Is Menengiç Coffee and What Is It Made From?

Menengiç coffee is a drink made by drying and roasting the ripe fruit of the wild terebinth tree, then grinding it into an oily paste, and warming that paste in a cezve. The "coffee" in its name comes from the fact that it is prepared and served in a way that resembles Turkish coffee; otherwise it contains no coffee bean and is naturally caffeine-free. For this reason menengiç coffee is a drink in its own right, independent of coffee. Its flavour is nutty and pistachio-like, faintly earthy, carrying a thin pine-resin note in the background.

Core Components

• Menengiç (Melengiç / Çitlembik): The whole drink is made from the fruit of the wild terebinth tree (Pistacia terebinthus). This fruit is dried, roasted and ground into an oily, dark paste. The wild relative of the Antep pistachio, this tree gives the drink its nutty, pistachio-like character.
• Milk: Menengiç coffee is traditionally prepared with milk, which lends the drink a creamy, full and gently sweet body. This milk-based preparation is the best-known and most loved form of menengiç coffee.
• No Coffee Bean, No Caffeine: No coffee bean is used at any stage of menengiç coffee, so it is naturally caffeine-free. All of the drink's aroma comes from the roasted terebinth fruit.

Not a Coffee — a Specialty in Its Own Right

Menengiç coffee is not a kind of coffee, nor a drink taken in place of coffee; it is a distinctive Gaziantep beverage in its own right. The only thing that makes it a "coffee" is the formal resemblance of brewing it in a copper cezve and serving it hot with foam. The menengiç paste inside gives it a nutty, pistachio-like depth, a creamy body and a faintly resinous finish. In this respect menengiç coffee takes its place alongside Turkish coffee in the coffeehouse — not as a substitute but as a separate and equal local choice; it is an original flavour grounded in the city's wild terebinth tree and pistachio culture.

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The History and Cultural Origins of Menengiç Coffee

Menengiç coffee is a deep-rooted regional preparation grounded in the wild terebinth tree of Gaziantep and Southeast Anatolia. The terebinth tree grows untended on the city's slopes, on the same soils where the Antep pistachio is cultivated. As the wild relative and the traditional grafting rootstock of the pistachio, the menengiç fruit being roasted and turned into a drink is a natural extension of the city's pistachio-and-terebinth culture. In this respect menengiç coffee is not an "invention" tied to a particular person or date, but a genuine heritage born of the region's nature and culinary accumulation and carried from generation to generation.

A Note on Its Origins

Menengiç coffee has no documented date of invention or inventor. A popular tale links the drink's beginnings to a sultan or a coffeehouse story; however, the details of these accounts differ from one another and rest on no verifiable record. Such stories should therefore be treated not as historical fact but as local folklore (rivayet). What is certain is that the terebinth has a place reaching far back in Gaziantep's natural landscape, and that the drink is deeply embedded in the city's everyday taste culture.

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The Menengiç Coffee Tradition and Ritual in Gaziantep

In Gaziantep, menengiç coffee is a drink of hospitality. Because it is naturally caffeine-free, it is enjoyed comfortably late in the day and especially in the evening; with its warm, creamy body it is loved above all in the winter months, as a warming drink. A deep-rooted part of the city's coffeehouses, menengiç coffee is served alongside Turkish coffee — not as its substitute but as a separate and original local choice. This standing is tied directly to Gaziantep's pistachio-and-terebinth identity and to the UNESCO City of Gastronomy title it was crowned with in 2015.

How It Is Prepared and Drunk

Menengiç coffee is prepared by warming a measure of the roasted, ground menengiç paste together with milk in a copper cezve until it froths; like Turkish coffee, it calls for slow, careful brewing. The finished drink is served hot in small cups, topped with foam, and is usually offered with a sweet alongside. The milk-based preparation is the best-known and classic form; a lighter, water-based version also exists, but the milk version is the true identity of menengiç coffee. Those curious about the same coffeehouse tradition can also visit the historic Tahmis Coffee House, where menengiç coffee is served, and discover the city's other deep-rooted drinks in flavours such as Licorice Sherbet and Zahter Tea.

Why You Should Try It

A cup of menengiç coffee carries Gaziantep's wild terebinth tree and pistachio culture straight to the palate in a single sip: the nutty, pistachio-like aroma of the roasted menengiç, the creamy body the milk provides and a faintly resinous finish come together. Because it holds no caffeine, it can be drunk unhurriedly at any hour of the day. The truest way to taste it is in the city where it was born, freshly poured from a copper cezve, hot and crowned with foam, ideally with a local sweet alongside. Those seeking a sweet can also explore the city's grape-molasses culture on the Pekmez page.

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Frequently Asked Questions