KAHVÉS.
We have desires to which we are impelled by nature, and their
attainment is indispensable to the continuation of life; but we have
desires also which are the results of acquired tastes, and which habit
often makes as impulsive as our natural wants. Thus are created the
luxuries of life, and to increase the delight which we derive from
such sources of enjoyment, we endeavor to refine, to etherealize their
forms, and to divest them of all sensual and grosser accompaniments.
Among such luxuries, coffee and tobacco are pre-eminent, which are
made even the basis of hospitality and the bond of social intercourse
by all the Osmanlis. Tobacco, when imbibed in its exquisite forms,
is the source of the most refined enjoyments, creating those reveries
and dreamy sensations which float for the moment about our listless
senses, beclouding with a silvery vapor some of life's dull realities.
Tobacco, ever since its first introduction to the civilized world,
has become so indispensable an item of consumption that it has long
been ranked among the staple commodities of life, and seems to claim
the double title of a natural and artificial taste. Yet, no form of
pleasure and exhilaration has ever been the subject of so much study,
as the ways and means of enjoying this fragrant weed.
All the world are well aware of the different forms in which tobacco is
used, viz., inhaling in the form of smoke, titillating the nostrils by
its powder called snuff, or imbibing the juice into the system by the
process of mastication. The two latter forms of enjoying this luxury,
seem to admit of no refinement, as time has rolled on, and snuffing
and chewing yet remain in their pristine state of simplicity.
On the contrary, no ingenuity has been spared to invent, improve or
remodel the various vehicles by which the more exquisite and graceful
practice of smoking may be enjoyed.
Although tobacco may have been indigenous to America, yet we have
the assertion of Professor Beckman to corroborate the fact, that
this plant was known to the Tartars long before the discovery of
America. As early as the year 1610 a native Turk was paraded through
the streets of Constantinople with a pipe transfixed through his nose,
as the penalty of indulging in the pastime of smoking, which was then
in great disrepute.
Indeed, if we may credit tradition, Mohammed himself predicted "that
in times to come there should be men, bearing the name of Mussulmans,
but not really such, who should smoke a certain weed called Dükhan,
or Tobacco."
Tobacco was introduced into England soon after the discovery of
Columbus, by Sir Walter Raleigh, and thence found its way into Europe;
but not until fifteen years after do we hear of it among the Turks,
whence it seems that the Orientals must have acquired their knowledge
of this plant through some other channel, most probably from their
Tartar neighbors. But from whatever clime we first derived this
fragrant weed, there is no doubt that the earliest method of using it
was in a pipe, and not in the form of cigars, or by imbibing the juice
by chewing--which latter practice was unknown to the early lovers of
tobacco, and is unpractised by the Orientals even at this day.
As the aromatic plant by degrees became essential to the happiness
of mankind, even including the fair sex, doubtless the inconvenience
of the pipe suggested the idea of a more portable form, whence the
invention of cigars.
In Holland, in 1570, they smoked out of conical tubes, made of
palm-leaves plaited together; and subsequently the leaf of the
plant was rolled up, and the present form of cigars adopted. The
only recommendation to the form of cigars is their convenience; but
many amateurs pretend that they thus attain a stronger relish of the
tobacco than from pipes. The cigar is certainly strong in its fumes,
but whether the relish is greater is a matter to be questioned, and
in this form the injurious and even poisonous properties of the plant
are imparted to the system. Besides, there is the close proximity of
the fire to the mouth and teeth; secondly, the condensation of the
essential oil on the lips, leaving a yellow tinge around the mouth;
thirdly, the gradual dissolving of the end of the cigar in the mouth,
producing, by its nicotine property, irritation of the gums and the
salivary glands; fourthly, there is the necessity of always holding
the cigar, which in the course of time imparts a dingy hue to the
fingers; fifthly, the danger of injuring the clothes and furniture
by the constant falling of the ashes; sixthly, the eyes suffer from
their proximity to the heated fumes; and last, but not least, there
is the satisfaction of imbibing the nectar-juice of some black mouth,
for the black nymphs who are employed in this manufacture, always
salivate their handiwork, by way of giving it a smooth and handsome
finish. Surely, could our amateurs but witness the manufacture of
their favorite Havanas, they would forever eschew that form of the
aromatic weed.
But apart from all these considerations, the very convenience of the
cigar becomes an objection; for being always at hand, the too frequent
use of it has converted the pleasure into an evil--such a constant
craving being excited that even the health is injured. Doubtless
this perverted taste, in circumstances where smoking has not been
permitted, as on board ships, behind counters, in offices, etc.,
has induced the pernicious practice of chewing.
Those nations who retain the original, natural, and simplest mode
of enjoying the weed, have never relinquished the pipe, but have
varied the form of this implement, and much beautified and improved
it. The people who have retained the use of the pipe, are the Dutch,
Irish, English, Scotch, Germans, Russians, Turks, Persians, and all
Orientals. In the perfection of the art of smoking the Persians may
rank first, then the Osmanlis, Russians, Hungarians, Dutch, English,
and last of all the Germans.
The Persians rank high in this respect, because they have studied
the philosophy of enjoying the fumes of tobacco in their greatest
purity. This they have attained by passing the smoke through water,
and thus purifying it from the essential oil of the plant. The kaleon
of the Persians, the hookah of Hindostan, the shishé of the Arabs, or
the narghillé of the Turks, is an air-tight vessel partially filled
with water, on the top of which is a bowl to contain the ignited
tobacco. From this bowl a tube descends into the water, and the long
and flexible pipe is inserted into the vessel above the level of the
water. When the smoker begins to draw through the pipe, a partial
vacuum is created in the vessel, which occasions the pressure of
the external air to force the smoke of the tobacco downward through
the small tube above mentioned into the water beneath, where, after
losing its solid particles, it bubbles up into the vacant space above,
and thence through the pipe to the mouth of the smoker.
But ever since the peculiar and agreeable properties of this fragrant
plant have been known, the ingenuity of its votaries has been excited
to invent and improve the ways and means of obtaining the greatest
amount of satisfaction from its use.
In the earliest stages the pipe was made of one entire piece of clay,
but soon the fact was established that this substance became so heated
as to decompose the tobacco. Metallic and other pipes were tried,
but still the same evil existed; until wood became the most popular
material. But that being combustible, the flavor of the tobacco was
deteriorated; and at last the arrangement was made of a stem of wood
with a bowl of clay attached to it, to contain the ignited plant. The
wood was a nonconductor of heat, capable of being constructed of any
length, and moreover, easily cleaned, so that this was pronounced
the great desideratum.
The Turks have displayed the greatest refinement and taste in the
manufacture of their long and beautiful chibouks or pipe-stems, to
which they attach the amber mouth-piece, so agreeable to the lips
and free from all impurities.
A peculiar species of clay was discovered in Turkey so remarkably
argillaceous as to supersede all other substances for the construction
of pipe-bowls; and these Oriental and philosophic smokers have
displayed their wisdom and science in the peculiar form into which
they have molded them. The form of a lüllé, or Turkish pipe-bowl,
is that of an inverted cone, the base of which, when filled with
tobacco, forms the surface. The design of this form is to present a
greater surface of exposure to the atmosphere, and to bring a smaller
body of tobacco in contact with the bowl, which is made as thin and
delicate as the nature of the material will permit, so as to possess
the least quantity of body, and thus less power of retaining heat. The
pipe should be lighted in the centre of the bowl, not with a piece
of paper, which would scorch the surface of the tobacco, but with a
small piece of spunk. At each inhalation the ignited circle enlarges
and extends toward the edge of the bowl, and as the combustion takes
place proportionally downward, it is evident that all the tobacco is
consumed without the assistance of fingering it, as the Germans are
in the habit of doing.
The stem is always of wood, but great care is used in its
selection. Jasmine is cultivated expressly for pipe-stems,
and carefully trained so as to increase in length and uniform
thickness. Cherry-stems are much prized and more durable than the
jasmine, and there is a species of wild fruit tree called germeshek,
peculiar to Turkey, remarkably suited for the use of tobacco, and very
generally used. These pipe-stems are never less than four or five feet
long, and perfectly straight. The object gained by the length is that
the smoke arrives at the lips comparatively cool, having deposited its
more solid particles in the stem, which being perfectly straight is
easily cleansed; for it is an essential point that the pipe should,
contrary to German philosophy, be kept pure. Still another advantage
gained by the length is that the pipe may be easily disposed of for
the moment, resting by the side or against a table without deranging
the tobacco in the bowl, which should always have a small brass tray
beneath it to protect the floor from any accident.
Certainly, then, a Turkish chibouk is unequalled as an implement for
smoking. The pure amber mouthpiece often glittering with brilliants,
the long stem, one unbroken length of slender jasmine, and the delicate
and beautifully-gilded bowl, seem to constitute the very essence of
refinement in the luxury of smoking; and no wonder that the Osmanlis
recline for hours on their silken cushions, and puff and puff again
"ambrosial gales."
One reason of the luxury displayed in the Turkish pipe is, that the
chibouk is an indispensable appendage of hospitality, always presented
to the guests, and constantly changed and replaced by another, each
successive pipe exceeding its predecessor in beauty and value, until
the visit is terminated.
The chibouks and narghillés are symbols of luxury and wealth among
the Osmanlis, as services of silver are appendages of elegant life
to the Europeans, and there is great ambition to excel each other in
the costliness of their appurtenances of smoking. Many of the pashas
and other men of wealth, possess chibouks to the value of $50,000,
ranging from $10 upwards.
Sultan Mahmoud was forced to issue an edict forbidding the hosts to
present them to visitors, and ordering that every one should provide
his own chibouk. Hence the appendage to all gentlemen of rank of a
Chibouk-gy, who always accompanies his master.
The narghillés or hookahs are also very popular, and often of exquisite
workmanship; but pipes being more portable and handy, are generally
preferred. The effort necessary to draw the smoke from the narghillé
is, by some, considered as objectionable, but a little practice soon
habituates to its use, and certainly with this instrument we have
the smoke in its greatest purity.
But it is not only the utility and beauty of the long chibouk which
constitute the Osmanlis the best and most philosophical smokers. There
is no tobacco in the world so delicious as the Turkish; so varied in
its degrees of narcotic strength, or so carefully prepared, and a taste
once being acquired for this species of the plant, all other varieties
become intolerable. A growing taste for this tobacco has of late been
acquired in America, and the increasing demand for this article has
induced speculators to flood the market with spurious imitations or
adulterations both imported and of home manufacture. Even in Turkey the
greatest connoisseurs can, with difficulty, procure the best species;
there are so many varieties offered for sale; the very worst kind,
of which so much is exported to America, being from Smyrna and its
immediate neighborhood. The tobacco most valued, and justly so, for
its pure and aromatic flavor, is only raised in a small district of
Thessaly, in European Turkey, and is called Yenijé tobacco, from the
name of the region where it is cultivated.
There has been concocted a peculiar kind or brand of the plant under
the title of scafarlatti, which seems to have gained great celebrity
in the United States as being the genuine Turkish article. This
appellation is as yet unknown in Turkey, and must have sprung from
the inventive brain of some one of the Barnum race, who would even
enlarge the Turkish vocabulary at the expense of the lingua Italiana.
Not to notice the Western nations, who, with their clay pipes, have
remained in statu quo in the art of smoking, the Germans deserve some
criticism: for they have made many attempts to arrive at perfection.
The material of which the German pipe-bowls are made, poetically
called meerschaum, is ill adapted for the purpose, and the forms of
their stems and mouth-pieces imply entire ignorance of the science
of smoking.
The meerschaum, or froth of the sea, is a native rock formation of
Turkey, and is excavated about two or three hundred miles from the
sea of Marmora. Every particle is exported to Vienna, and it is
never used by the natives, because it is a calcareous substance,
and when in contact with fire undergoes a process of combustion
to a sufficient degree to decompose the tobacco. This fact is well
attested by the circumstance that a meerschaum pipe-bowl is greatly
enhanced in value when by a long and tedious process it has lost
all its combustible properties, and is thus rendered incapable of
deteriorating the tobacco. But why select a substance which requires
so long an apprenticeship, when nature furnishes one well suited for
the purpose? and why esteem an article for its power of absorption
and then prize it the more for having lost it by time and use? German
philosophy only can explain!
Apart from the unfitness of meerschaum for the bowl, the form in which
it is modelled shows how little the nature of tobacco is understood
by those sturdy people; for the form of an elongated cylinder only
serves to surround the weed by a heavy body of combustible material
capable of containing an excessive degree of heat, and thus decomposing
the tobacco. But the main object of these amateurs of the mere-sham
seems to be to deteriorate the fume of the narcotic plant as much as
possible--for to cap the climax of their absurdity, a metallic cover
is nicely fitted to those exquisite pipe-bowls, and thus the favorite
meerschaum is converted into a perfect retort for the manufacture
of tobacco-gas!
Their stems are generally made of the most ordinary wood, short
and curving, and the mouth-piece of the minutest dimensions. The
object in having such small mouth-pieces is to imitate the process
by which infants are nourished, by introducing them into the mouth
and regularly sucking up the smoke instead of inhaling it, as the
Osmanlis do, by merely resting their lips upon the large and oval
surface of the amber. The introduction of the piece into the mouth
immediately excites the saliva, which in part passes into the pipe,
and is otherwise discharged by spitting--a most disgusting practice
unknown among the Orientals. Notwithstanding also the shortness of
the pipe, owing to its curved form and the diminutive mouthpiece,
it is almost impossible to keep it clean. But it seems to be a sort
of German philosophy not only to have their pipes in a most filthy
state, but to delight in and value them the more in proportion to
their antiquity and impurity. Truly there is no accounting for taste,
nor is it any longer a matter of wonder that pigs delight to wallow
in the mire.
If, then, the nations of the East, the Persians and Osmanlis, are
behind the age in other matters of civilization, they have surely
attained the acme of refinement in this delight.
Nature, too, has favored them in the peculiar quality of their tobacco,
and the very indolence of their habits has led them to meditate more
diligently on their favorite luxury. Hence the palm in this matter is
to be given to their musical gurgling narghillé, purifying and cooling
the fragrant fumes, and to the long and graceful chibouk, which a
little care will keep always pure and ready for use. These are well
worth the adaptation of other nations. Some have, however, objected to
the chibouk as not being portable and convenient during a promenade,
as if there were a municipal law requiring all good citizens to smoke
in the streets. If the good taste of the community should render the
use of these chibouks and narghillés popular, there is no doubt that
all the places for public refreshment would be provided with them,
as they now are in Turkey and all over the East.
The coffee plant is well known to be a native of Arabia; it was used as
a drink in that part of the world as early as the ninth century of the
Hegira, and was gradually introduced into the countries of the Levant;
it was many times declared unlawful by the followers of the Koran,
as being of the class of inebriating liquors so often condemned
by Mohammed; but the Eastern nations are so addicted to its use,
that they say, "A cup of coffee and a pipe of tobacco are a complete
entertainment!" It seems that this beverage was made fashionable in
Paris about the year 1668, by a Turkish ambassador. "The elegance of
the equipage recommended it to the eye, and charmed the women; the
brilliant porcelain cups in which it was poured, the napkins fringed
with gold, and the Turkish slaves on their knees, presenting it to
the ladies seated on the ground on cushions, turned the heads of the
Parisian dames. This elegant introduction made the exotic beverage
a subject of conversation; and in 1672, an Armenian at Paris, at
the fair time, opened a coffee house." This establishment was much
frequented by the literati, until the proprietor added the sale of
wine and beer to its attractions.
A similar attempt was made in New York in 1855, but soon relinquished;
notwithstanding the proverbial fondness of the Americans for good
coffee and tobacco. The fact is, their temperament is too nervous,
and their habits are too restless to allow them quietly to sip their
coffee and smoke their pipes as the Orientals do.
Besides, the style of preparing the coffee in Turkey is decidedly
superior to any known in Europe or America, and has met with the
approbation of those who have tasted it either in New York, or in
the sultan's dominions.
"Coffee is found on chemical analysis to contain a highly nutritious
element, known as caffein. This component part of all good coffee
is found to contain a larger proportion of nitrogen than any other
vegetable principle, and in this respect equals some of the most
highly animalized products, rendering it nutritious as a drink."
The essential oil of the berry is so volatile, that the greatest
care and skill are requisite in its roasting and pulverization;
for if too much burnt, the aroma is destroyed, if underdone, the
water fails to absorb or extract the nutritious material, and if not
properly pulverized, a perfect chemical combination of the particles
in solution is not effected.
There is no doubt a desire among the Americans, to obtain this
beverage in its purity and excellence, as evince the many machines
and contrivances they use; yet they seldom if ever succeed in their
attempts.
The mixture from the grocers, and the ingredients they mingle at home,
such as eggs, isinglass, etc., render it impossible to secure a pure,
unadulterated, fragrant solution of this berry.
The commercial competition is so great that in order to be able to
undersell each other, all sorts of cheaper substitutes are mixed with
the coffee, such as chicory, beans, peas, etc.; thus annihilating
the really nutritive properties of the genuine plant.
In a word, those who have never tasted a cup of good Turkish coffee,
are yet in unhappy ignorance of the peculiar aroma and deliciousness
of coffee as a beverage.
Coffee being the universal and favorite beverage in Turkey, the
first ideas of an Osmanli, upon opening his eyes in the morning,
are associated with his kahvé and chibouk, or coffee and pipe, which
in reality constitute his only breakfast, and are not only used upon
rising, but at all hours during the day, and at the very moment of
his retiring.
These luxuries are invariably offered to visitors, and their omission
is regarded as a breach of hospitality.
Their universal use has given rise to the establishment of
numerous kahvés, which are the resort of persons of all ranks and
condition. They are to be met with in all parts and quarters of
the city, each having its own set of customers, and constituting,
in reality, the only casinos or club houses, where politics are
discussed, business transacted, and the news of the day freely
circulated; in fact the only Bourse or Exchange in Constantinople,
was a coffee house at Pershembé-Pazar, in Galata: and it is only of
late years that a regular Exchange has been erected.
Many of these kahvés are very beautifully constructed, and adorned
with pillars and fountains, with gardens attached to them, where
visitors are entertained with sweet strains of music; and crowds
assemble to listen to the extravagant fictions of the Meddahs, or
professed story-tellers, or otherwise to wile away the time; smoking,
sipping the fragrant berry, and playing backgammon, dama, or mangala.
All games of chance are played by the Osmanlis, only for amusement,
and gambling is not generally practised by them.
The moral effect of these establishments upon the community is
very evident; for though wine is forbidden by the Koran, there are
many mey-hanés, or grog-shops, to be found in Turkey, which are not
generally frequented by people of any pretensions to respectability;
indeed drunkenness is a very uncommon vice, doubtless owing to the
numerous kahvés, which afford the habitual refreshments of pipes and
coffee to the people, with every facility for social intercourse.
On entering the coffee shop, there is an elevated platform on the three
sides, which is furnished with cushions or mats for the accommodation
of visitors. On the sides of the wall are various grotesque pictures,
and also shelves, where the implements of shaving and toilette are
so fantastically displayed as to create a somewhat comic appearance,
and one altogether peculiar to Turkey. At one of the remotest corners
is an elevated fire-place for the preparation of coffee, which is
served in very small cups. The diminutive quantity of this beverage
was so unsatisfactory to one of the sailors of the English fleet at
Constantinople, that upon tasting it he observed, "This is excellent;
just bring me a dozen."
Surrounding the fire-place are shelves, upon which stand the graceful
narghillés, with their brazen and polished mountings, attractive and
pleasing to the eye. But the most active and busy personage in this
establishment is the Berber, or barber, who is not only the shaver,
hair-dresser, and trimmer in general, but extends the province of his
sharp profession to bleeding, cupping, leeching, and tooth-drawing; the
results of which avocations are displayed at the door, fantastically
strung and diversified with colored beads.
Barbers always follow in the train of doctors, and even precede them,
for bleeding is a universal remedy in Turkey, whether the patient
is sick of fever or fright. Indeed, it is the custom for every
body to be bled once a year, generally in the spring, in order to
purify the system. Add to this the frequent application of leeches,
scarifications, and cupping, and it may be easily conceived that
this branch of industry is very profitable; still more so when
it was the custom to shave the whole head, for the convenience of
frequent ablutions. Many, in conformity with European civilization,
now allow the hair to grow, but those who oppose other reforms are
equally unyielding in this respect, and "calculating even to a hair."