In Turkey a falcı, or fortune teller, is often versed in the ancient art of coffee reading. Before I came to Istanbul I had never heard of anyone reading coffee grindings; although when I was a child my grandmother used to read the tea leaves that remained clinging to the inside a cup of tea after drinking it. This was in the days before teabags became more commonplace, and this small piece of social culture slipped away into insignificance.