Boza Winter Drink

Boza is made by cooking millet or bulgur into a mash, sweetening it and letting it ferment lightly, which gives a thick, pale, slightly sour drink somewhere between a porridge and a beverage - it is drunk with a spoon as much as sipped. It is served cold with ground cinnamon shaken over the top and roasted chickpeas, leblebi, eaten alongside. The alcohol from fermentation is minimal, around one percent, which was enough to make it a subject of debate in Ottoman times. It is strictly a winter drink: the shops open in October and close in spring, and asking for boza in July gets you a look. Vefa Bozacısı in Fatih has sold it from the same marble-and-mirror shop since 1876, and the display case holding the glass Atatürk drank from is part of the visit. Street vendors calling boza on winter evenings were once a fixture of Istanbul and have nearly disappeared.

What you actually see

• The thick pale glass - the drink poured from the vat.
• The cinnamon and leblebi - the standard accompaniments.
• The Vefa shop - marble, mirrors and the 1876 interior.
• The winter-only rhythm - the shops shut through summer.

When to go

October to April only - it is not made or sold in summer. Evenings, when it is traditionally drunk. Vefa Bozacısı is busy at weekends.

Honest expectations

The texture surprises people - it is thick and eaten as much as drunk, and the slight sourness is not for everyone. Only available in the cold months. The shop is small and queues form.

Nearby

Süleymaniye Mosque and the Valens Aqueduct are a short walk; the Grand Bazaar is downhill.