Hello Listren,
You do not say where you are staying but from experince all i can say is;

a) The local beer in Tukey is Effes, a larger type beer which is very nice, tastes great and has no calories ( all right i lied about the calories)
B)the local wines are supposed to be quite expensive, so you might get the local equivalant of paint stripper, but hayho you are on holiday so enjoy,enjoy,enjoy. the responce you geet from the local people will make it all worth while

Alan

I love wine but have never drunk it in Turkey. I tend to stick to the Efes

We're staying in Fethiye.

lisatren,

As I'm sure everyone will tell you, Efes is very nice. If you want to sample it before you go, it's available in some supermarkets. It's never quite the same as when in Turkey though!

Darren

Efes is the drink man! Good solid beer my son. Forget the wine, it will pickle your onions. and cost you a fortune in the bargain. stick with Efes.
gb

Some of the Turkish wines are actually really nice - but they are very expensive. You buy buy Efes over here in Morrisons supermarkets. Makro also sell it and you can buy it in Wetherpoons pubs too.

Hi all

I am due to go on 5th!! Yipea cant wait..
Anyone know what cheap local spirits that are typically included in the all inclusive? I have heard of lions milk but im not liking the sound of that since im not fond of perno..
anything else..???
Thanks all
xxx

Local beer, Efes, is very good. Turkish wine is actually ok but is very expensive and if you want a decent wine it will cost a lot in a restaurant.

Local vodka and gin are drinkable with mixers, although you may find you get very large measures (maybe not in AI hotels though). Lions milk is raki, if you don't like pernod then you wont like raki either as it is very much the same, you drink it with ice and water.

But local alcohol is free with all inclusive so surely that includes local wine ?

Last year we were AI in Marmaris and wine was in a barrel in the restaurant so that you could help yourself,it wasn't very good so I mixed it with lemonade.T.

Yes, you will get local wine in AI but it probably wont be a particularly good wine.

Thanks for the advice.

I usually go to the canaries and spanish islands so I am used to a nice wine but Never mind I am sure my man will be happy with the Efes beer.
and I like vodka and gin so we will be fine and dandy

Can I just check I take it cocktails are served in Turkey ... i guess the bars and restaurants will do this but all inclusive 4 star Hotel ( bad 4* apparently ) in Turkey is it likely this will be all inclusive

( I grudge paying out for drinks when you got the all in)

I'm a wine drinker (red as a rule) so I'll give the local stuff a whirl in our hotel. If it's that bad I guess I'll just have to stick to the beer but am sure I will cope

Hi Lisatren,

Turkish wine is not very nice in my opinion.

Probably the best and most well known wines are Yakut, which is red, and Cankaya, which is white. There are other wines such as Doluca which are absolutely dreadful to drink - they taste like vinegar.

Yakut and Cankaya would be the most expensive in your average restaurant, but they're comparable to a very cheap table wine which you can buy over here for about £4. I don't know about now, but a couple of years ago the average price for a bottle in a restaurant was about 28TL, so I'd imagine the price has gone up since then.

When I was out there I found a white wine called Angora which was better than Cankaya, but slightly more expensive. That wasn't a bad wine, but it didn't match a bog standard Australian wine we can buy over here for just £6.

Imported wines are terribly expensive in Turkey. Jacob's Creek was about 5 times the price it is in the UK. But you won't usually find imported wines in a Turkish restaurant unless you go to a very expensive one, or stay in an expensive hotel. The supermarkets sell imported wine but it's shockingly expensive, as is imported spirits. You can find some OK Turkish wines in the big supermarkets made with Shiraz or Sauvignon Blanc grapes, and some of those aren't too bad, but I've never seen them in a restaurant.

I used to buy boxes of wine from the supermarket here, remove the cardboard box, and stuff them in a suitcase to drink at home. I know boxed wine is sometimes iffy, but it's a lot better than the Turkish wine. In restaurants I'd stick to Angora or Yakut to have with my meal - but they're noting special by any means. I have seen some extortionately priced wines in some upmarket Turkish restaurants - 100TL+ - but as they were Turkish I didn't bother trying them as I don't rate Turkish wine at all.

Strawberry

Thanks for the advice Strawberry. As we're all incl. I don't plan on paying for wine especially if it's overpriced but I will give the free stuff in our hotel a whirl!

we're off to Turkey on a B&B basis in August. We've only been once before and that was to Gumbet. This time we're going to Olu deniz and was wondering whether any of my tipples will be readily available in the bars/restaurants. I am a shorts person and will drink a bacardi & coke or Metaxa and lemonade. I sometimes like to end the night with a baileys or two. Are there local alternatives and are they expensive? I remember drinking a baileys (or equivalent) my first time to Turkey 8 years ago and it was really expensive. I'm presuming as gin and vodka are popular that I should be able to get a white rum Anybody got any thoughts please?

The proper stuff will be very expensive but you will probably be able to find a local equivalent of most things, I'm not sure about the prices though. I will ask my husband later, he was a barman in Gumbet for years so he will know. I'm an Efes girl myself

Yep effes for me too... 2 weeks today and i will be be enjoying a glass of the very best!

Hi Shirley,

You'll find most drinks in Turkey. It's always cheaper to buy the local vodka, gin etc and if you have a mixer you probably won't tell much difference.

You need to be careful when buying imported drinks from a bar or restaurant as some unscrupulous bar owners fill imported bottles with local spirits. I don't remember having Metaxa in Turkey, but I'd imagine it would be pricey. Local Turkish brandy reminds me a little bit of Metaxa, so you might try that and see if you like it.

Strawberry