"I've been a coffee ('kahve' as we call it in Turkish) lover since I can remember. For my generation here in Turkey, we met coffee with Turkish coffee style in small ages or 'cezve'/ibrik' as the world knows it.
It's been a common tradition here to prepare (roast, grind and brew) coffee at home for centuries with that method, to drink with a small cup after breakfast or dinner or serve for guests just for joy. There are many words we have in Turkish related with the coffee, such as 'kahverengi', 'the color of coffee' means the name of brown, or we call breakfast as 'kahvalatı' means 'before coffee'. Also there are some other traditions related with the coffee, incl. reading the cup for fun, but some people believe that ones future can be read by that way Well, coffee is part of our daily routine.
Later, we were greeted by instant coffees in the late of 70's while I was a teenager but I never liked and considered it coffee. In late 80's and early 90's, I was working with colleagues from the US and was presented to filter coffee machines this time. Well, I was never a fan of it, still my favorite method was Turkish cezve. Then at the shift of the Millenia, we were presented with various coffee chains and it became a new culture for the younger generations: to drink a cup of coffee while waiting for loved ones or having a chat with friends. It's still not that much common for my generation to go those places or bringing coffee to brew at home, but I tried it since the beginning with my old French Press.
I was presented to "Specialty Coffee" via some local shops about 2.5-3 years ago. The first tries, I never liked the thing I was drinking but nearly 1,5 years ago. I went to a "specialty coffee" shop here in Istanbul, drank a cup of Hunkute from Ethiopia prepared in a Chemex and fell in love with it! I remember that I said '-Yes, that's it!'! Later, I started to buy "specialty coffees" from different coffee countries, new brewing equipment to be tried at home. It became a joyful daily routine with an early morning start. This also allowed me to order "specialty coffees" from the coffee roasters abroad although it is a bit of an adventure. However, those coffees and roaster never made me feel regret. Since that time I'm still curious, reading to learn and experimenting new coffees from everywhere, equipment, methods and I think my wife loves me more with those delicious cup of specialty coffees that I brew in mornings!