Turkish Coffee - What Is It and How Can You Enjoy It?

You've heard about Turkish coffee, and maybe you've even tried it. But what is it and how can you make it at home?

Turkish coffee is a strong and flavorful brew that has been prepared and enjoyed the same way since the Ottoman Empire. It's made by brewing an extremely fine, almost powdered, grind of dark roast arabica bean coffee without using a filter. Typically, Turkish coffee is made in a small, long-handled, copper pot called a cezve.

Here's how to make your own Turkish coffee at home

When making your own Turkish coffee at home, a cezve (or ibrik) is the best tool for the job, however, it isn't a necessity. To begin, grind your dark roast coffee. One of our espresso roast coffees is a perfect choice. Or try our extremely popular Sumatra Black Satin.

Choose whole bean coffee and grind your beans yourself. Espresso grind, our finest grind, is much too coarse for Turkish coffee. Use a burr grinder to achieve a consistent, fine grind. Your grind should be a powdery consistency. Place the grounds directly into the cezve (see below for directions without a cezve or ibrik) along with the water and sugar, if desired. Stir and place the cezve over the heat. The ratio of coffee and sugar to water should be two to four teaspoons of coffee per 16 ounces of water.

Sugar, if being used, is to taste and can be added into the cezve or the serving cups. When ordering Turkish coffee out, it can be ordered by level of sweetness from no sweetness to extremely sweet. Once the coffee, water, and sugar are added into the cezve, give it a stir then leave it alone. If you want a little spice, add a cardamom seed or cinnamon stick. Brink the coffee to just before a boil. It should begin to foam and rise in the pot. Remove it from the heat and skim off the foam, adding the foam evenly to the serving cups.

Place the pot back on the heat to bring it again to just before the boil. This time, remove it from the heat and pour the coffee evenly between the serving cups, allowing the foam to rise to the top. Prior to drinking the coffee, let it sit for a minute or two to allow the grinds to settle to the bottom of the cup, then enjoy your Turkish coffee!

No cezve? No worries!

If you don't have a cezve or ibrik, simply place the coffee grounds and sugar directly into the serving cups and add the water. Give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes until the grinds sink. Or, use the smallest saucepan you have and prepare your Turkish coffee as you would in the cezve. Enjoy!

To add some extra richness to your Turkish coffee, replace the water with milk. Take care not to scald the milk when boiling it. When boiling your coffee, watch for a thick foam as it boils up. On your second boiling, take care not to let it go too long as this might make it bitter.

Have you tried Turkish coffee before? Let us know what you think!