While Turkish coffee is produced from very finely ground coffee beans, Ottoman coffee is coarsely ground. Its taste is not as intense as Turkish coffee, it is similar to the taste of milky coffee. Ottoman coffee is cooked in coffee pots called cezve and served in small coffee cups called fincan.

Coffee houses began in the Ottoman Empire. Since liquor and bars were off-limits to most practicing Muslims, coffeehouses provided an alternative place to gather, socialize and share ideas. Coffee's affordability and egalitarian structure—anyone could come in and order a cup—eroded centuries of social norms.

1453. Coffee is introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. The world's first coffee shop, Kiva Han, open there in 1475. Turkish law makes it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he fails to provide her with her daily quota of coffee.

The Ottoman coffeehouse, or Ottoman Café was a distinctive part of the culture of the Ottoman Empire. These coffeehouses, started in the mid-sixteenth century, brought together citizens across society for educational, social, and political activity as well as general information exchange.