Coffee therapy is creating buzz
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Two years ago, on a trip to his native Turkey,
East Villager Uluç Ülgen did something he
had done thousands of times before.
He had coffee with his father.
But this cup of coffee would prove to be special.
After fi nishing the almost syrup-like drink, his father
took his small porcelain cup, covered it with its
saucer, fl ipped them both upside down and moved
them in a circular motion three times. Then he
fl ipped the cup right-side up to interpret the images
he found in the runny grounds that had dripped
along its sides, in traditional Turkish coffee reading
fashion. His reading for his son was tremendously
uplifting — plus gave him an idea.
“You will truly enlighten your entire surroundings,”
Ülgen’s father told him, looking up from the
cup. “You will experience a big love.”
Ülgen, a video and podcast creator, had taken a
break from his video podcast Mürmur, for which
he invited strangers into his East Village home for
an hour-long conversation. He went overseas with
family to deal with a rough patch that included a
bad breakup and an eviction. A month later, inspired
by his father’s coffee reading for him, Ülgen
returned to the East Village and went back to work
on Mürmur, except this time doing his own coffee
readings for others during the show.
“It is meant to be an opportunity to relay words
of positivity, encouragement and hope,” Ülgen said
of Turkish coffee reading, which is traditionally
done in groups. According to the Ülgen the art of
drinking Turkish coffee is just as much about the
conversation as it is about the drink.
The readings proved to be a hit. This February,
Ülgen began hosting group coffee readings
full time in his apartment, mostly advertised as an
Airbnb experience.
Over the last eight months alone, the 30-yearold
has served between 800 and 900 cups of Turkish
coffee during his group sessions, appropriately
In the 6BC Botanic Garden treehouse, Uluc Ulgen, host of Kahve: The Turkish Coffee Therapy
Session, explains how a traditional Turkish coffee reading is done to two group session
participants.
entitled Kahvë: The Turkish Coffee Therapy Session.
Ülgen currently hosts one session daily Tuesday
through Friday and two sessions on weekends,
plus will host pop-up sessions once or twice a
month.
In a pop-up event on July 30, at the East Village’s
6BC Botanical Garden, 25 people participated in
group readings — held in the place’s treehouse —
with the coffee grounds in each person’s cup projected
onto an iPad via an endoscope camera for
group members to see. Endoscopes are typically
used for medical purposes to look inside people’s
bodies.
Most attendees at the July 30 garden pop-up
had never before had someone read their coffee
grounds in a group setting. But potential nerves did
not keep laughter from fi lling the garden as strangers
squished together in the tiny treehouse jokingly
argued about whether a butterfl y was actually a
swan or a caterpillar or actually something lewd.
Participants were supportive and clapped after each
reading.
Participant Margarita Calderon commented on
how fellow session members would frequently say
“Congratulations” and “I’m so happy for you.”
Like what his father did for him, Ülgen tries to
instill hope for the future, self-assuredness and inner
peace with his readings.
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
“Not only did it give me a lot of assuredness but it
gave me a lot to look forward to,” Ülgen refl ected.
The reading his father did for him was not only
special in meaning but also because it was the last
one his father would give him. He passed away a
month after Ülgen returned to New York City.
Meanwhile, Ülgen continues sharing the skill —
and its empowering spirit of optimism — that his
father taught him.
“Everything he said came true,” he said.
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Ulgen uses an endoscope camera to photograph
what he sees inside of each coffee cup
during the readings.
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Ulgen explains images he found in a participant’s
coffee grounds, using an endoscope
photo projected onto an iPad.
18 August 8, 2019 TVG Schneps Media