Syriac Wine, Bitter Mırra Coffee, Dibek Coffee and Mardin Blue Almonds

Walking down Birinci Cadde in Old Mardin, every third shop doorway invites you inside with the aroma of roasted cardamom, toasted almonds and oak-aged red wine. Three distinct beverage and sweet traditions belong on every visitor's tasting list.

1. Syriac Wine (Süryani Şarabı, 3,000 Years of Tur Abdin Winemaking)

The limestone slopes of Mardin, Midyat and the Tur Abdin plateau sit inside the ancient geographic cradle where wild Eurasian grapevines (Vitis vinifera) were first domesticated during the Neolithic era. For centuries, every Syriac Christian household and monastery pressed its own natural, un-sulphured wine in stone basement vats (mahsara) for the Eucharist and family table, a tradition now shared by both artisan family producers and modern boutique wineries (such as Shiluh):

• The Grapes to Taste: rich, full-bodied reds blended from high-tannin Boğazkere and fruity Öküzgözü (often infused in traditional monastery style with a hint of mahlep, wild cherry-kernel spice, cloves and cinnamon), alongside crisp dry whites pressed from indigenous Mazrona and Kerküş grapes grown on 1,000-metre-high bush vines.

2. Mırra (The Bitter Ceremonial Coffee of Mesopotamia) & Mardin Dibek Coffee

Derived from the Arabic word murr ("bitter"), Mırra is one of the strongest, most concentrated coffee brews on earth. Dark-roasted Arabica beans are pounded in a hollow wood or stone mortar, boiled repeatedly for hours in a long-spouted brass pot (gümgüm) with cardamom until the liquid turns as thick as molasses and stains the rim of the cup like henna:

• The Strict Cup Etiquette of Mırra: mırra is served by a server holding the brass pot in one hand and a stack of tiny, handleless porcelain cups in the other. He pours two sips into a cup and hands it to you; you drink it in one or two goes and must hand the empty cup straight back into the server's hand, never set the handleless cup down on the table. (According to old tribal custom, setting the cup on the table meant you were obliged to fill it with gold coins or arrange a marriage for the server).
• Mardin Dibek Kahvesi: if mırra is too intense, order velvety stone-pounded Mardin dibek kahvesi blended with cardamom (kakule), wild pistachio (menengiç) and carob.

3. Mardin Blue Almond Candies (Mavi Badem Şekeri) & Cevizli Sucuk

Double-roasted local Mardin almonds are coated in a boiling copper pan with sugar syrup tinted a striking sky-blue using natural indigo resin extracted from the roots of the Lahor tree (çivit otu), alongside cinnamon-coated and sesame-crusted almonds (leblebi) and strings of walnuts dipped in grape-molasses köme.