How to make delicious Turkish Coffee!
Turkish coffee remains a less widespread brew method, but it can be a fabulous cup with the intensity of all the ‘fines’ (which are filtered out in other methods) and coffee oils intact.
What makes Turkish coffee unique, is the coffee grounds used, and the fact that the coffee is not filtered. The grounds are very fine, much finer than espresso, and almost like a powder or flour. This increase the extraction of the beans, since the water is exposed to more surface, making for a very rich and intense cup.
How to make Turkish Coffee
Turkish coffee is made by coffee makers in a device called a cezve, which is a fancy long handled copper pot that is used specifically for coffee preparation. If your local hardware shop is fresh out of cezves, you can use a small saucepan or pot easily as well.
Let's dig in!
1. Boil Water and sugar (sugar optional): Measure out about 50 mL of water per cup of coffee (or, half a cup of water for 2 cups of coffee). Add to the cezve, and, if desired, add sugar. Traditionally, Turkish coffee is a very sweet beverage with the sweetness balancing out bitterness, but you can prepare is as you prefer it. This may take some experimenting to find your sweet spot (pun intended). The water and sugar are brought to a boil over heat.
2. Add Coffee: Add a teaspoon of coffee per cup to the cezve coffee pot.
3. Optional: add cardamom with the coffee grounds, start with just about a pinch, and increase if you want it spicier. You can also try out other spices, like cinnamon or nutmeg.
4. Boil the coffee twice: Return the cezve to the heat and boil it again, and scrape off any foam. Let it rest for 30-60 seconds. Now boil the coffee a second time in the same manner, with the foam being removed
5. Let the coffee rest and cool off: You can add a tablespoon of cool water to help the grounds settle to the bottom.
6. Serve: Serve from the cezve – they are cool looking things – carefully, keeping as much of the grounds on the bottom of the cezve. Pour the coffee into small cups (traditionally even smaller than espresso cups) and enjoy!
What coffee to look for?
You can use all grades of roast for Turkish coffee, but we recommend a medium or dark roast, as they would have the body and flavor profile to balance the sugars and spices. Most importantly, is the very fine grind.
Our Turkish coffee is a medium-dark roast from Colombia, roasted and ground specifically for the most delicious Turkish coffee. Read more and buy here.