About Us

TurkishTaste.com is an Istanbul-based boutique that brings Turkey's most trusted heritage food brands to your door. We don't sell everything Turkish. We sell the baklava, Turkish delight, coffee, tea and honey that people in Turkey actually queue for — bought fresh from the brands' own shops in Istanbul, packed the same day and sent by DHL Express to the countries we serve.

Turkey's heritage brands, in one box

Every country has a few names that define a food. In Turkey, baklava means Karaköy Güllüoğlu, Turkish delight means Hacı Bekir, the red tin from Hafız Mustafa 1864 is the gift you carry home, and Turkish coffee is Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi. These houses have been doing one thing well for a century or more, and most of them have a single shop, or a handful, all in Istanbul.

Their own websites can send you their own products. What they cannot do is put Güllüoğlu baklava, Hacı Bekir lokum, Mehmet Efendi coffee and a Çaykur tea in the same box, with one shipping fee and one tracking number. That is what TurkishTaste.com does.

Why we only sell the brands Turks actually buy

We are not the cheapest place to buy Turkish food online, and we don't try to be. We are a small, curated shop with a simple rule: in every category we carry the brand that people in Turkey consider the reference, not the one that is easiest to source.

Before a brand goes on the site, we ask four questions:

• Is it the name people in Turkey ask for by name? Not "a baklava", but "Güllüoğlu".
• Does it still make its own product? Family-run houses with their own kitchen or workshop, often since the 1800s.
• Can we buy it fresh, in person? Every brand we list has a shop we can walk into in Istanbul.
• Does it travel well? We only ship what arrives the way it left the counter.

The brands currently on the shelf: Karaköy Güllüoğlu (baklava, since 1949), Hafız Mustafa 1864 (baklava, Turkish delight, kadayıf, salep), Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir (Turkish delight and akide candy, since 1777), Koska (Turkish delight and halva, since 1907), Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi (Turkish coffee, since 1871), Çaykur (Rize black tea), Balparmak and Egricayir (Turkish honey, propolis and royal jelly) and our own Turkish Taste selection for the pieces no famous brand makes — copper cezves, tea sets and gift assortments.

The list will grow. It will not grow fast.

Bought fresh from the shop, not from a warehouse

We do not keep pallets of baklava in a depot. When your order comes in, we buy it from the brand's own shop in Istanbul — the same counter a local would use — and pack it the same day. Fresh baklava is packed in the maker's tray or metal box, wrapped and cushioned for the journey; Turkish delight, coffee, tea and honey are sealed by the producer and travel without trouble.

This is slower and more expensive than warehousing, and it is the reason the product that reaches you is the product you would get in Karaköy. We also tell you plainly what travels best: if you are ordering far from Turkey, the long-lasting (dry) baklava and the metal gift tins are the safest choices, and our product pages say so.

How your order travels

All orders ship from Istanbul with DHL Express. You receive a tracking number by email as soon as the parcel leaves us, and most parcels arrive within a few business days of dispatch. Delivery times, shipping fees and the countries we currently deliver to are listed on our Delivery & Returns page and confirmed at checkout before you pay.

Food crosses borders, and every country has its own rules. We declare the contents and value of every parcel accurately and help with any paperwork your customs office asks for. If a parcel arrives damaged, photograph it, tell us the same day, and we will make it right.

Who we are

TurkishTaste.com was founded in Istanbul in 2019 and shipped its first order in the spring of 2020. Our office is a short walk from the Grand Bazaar, which is not a coincidence: most of the shops we buy from are within reach on foot or a short drive. We are a small team that tastes what it sells, answers its own emails and packs its own boxes.

We are an independent retailer. We are not the official website of any of the brands we carry; we buy their products at their shops and bring them to customers who cannot. If you have a question about a product, a brand or a delivery, write to us at [email protected] or through the contact page.

TurkishTaste in numbers

• Founded in Istanbul in 2019; shipping since 2020.
• More than 500 orders delivered to customers in over 50 countries, most of them in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.
• Every order shipped with DHL Express and a tracking number.
• Nine heritage brands on the shelf, chosen one at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you the official store of Karaköy Güllüoğlu, Hafız Mustafa or Hacı Bekir?

No. TurkishTaste.com is an independent retailer based in Istanbul. We buy these brands' products at their own shops and ship them to customers abroad. For each brand's own website, see the brand story on its collection page.

Is the baklava really fresh when it arrives?

Fresh baklava is bought from the shop on the day we pack it and shipped by DHL Express, so it usually arrives within a few days of being baked. For destinations far from Turkey we recommend the long-lasting (dry) baklava or the metal gift tins, which keep for weeks.

Which countries do you deliver to?

We deliver to a selected list of countries, shown on our Delivery & Returns page and at checkout. If your country is not on the list, the checkout will tell you before you pay.

Do I pay customs duties or import taxes?

Rules differ by country. We declare every parcel accurately and help with any documents customs may ask for; any import duties or taxes are set by your country. Details are on the Delivery & Returns page.

Can I order for a company, a wedding or an event?

Yes. We prepare larger and corporate orders — baklava tins, Turkish delight boxes and mixed gift sets — with a delivery plan agreed in advance. Write to [email protected] with the quantity, destination and date.

Where are you located?

In Istanbul, Turkey, near the Grand Bazaar. All orders are packed and shipped from Istanbul.