How to make Turkish coffee

Turkish coffee is the oldest method used to make coffee from roasted beans. Once roasted the coffee gets ground to an extra fine coffee powder (finer than espresso). You can also grind you own coffee beans using a traditional Turkish coffee grinder or a modern burr grinder.

In order to make Turkish coffee you basically bring a mixture of water and ground coffee to boil. This special preparation had an almost ceremonial character for people living in Africa or the Middle East. The blends used to make Turkish coffee have usually a high percentage of Brazilian coffees, and also some Robusta or a "secret" ingredient to add some more flavour (Colombian coffee, Ethiopia Harrar or Yemen Mocha).

It is common throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Balkan countries. Turkish coffee is known as Türk kahvesi in Turkey. In Armenian it is called  surj and in Greek it is called "Ellinikos Kafes" which means Greek coffee. In Greece it is the coffee most regularly consumed (and the second one is "Frappe" which is basically iced instant coffee).

In order to make Turkish coffee we need a Turkish coffee pot known as ibrik, cezve or briki. This special pot has a characteristic narrow top which facilitates the correct slow brewing of Turkish coffee and the forming of crema on top (almost like the espresso crema). Traditionally the ibriks were made of copper or brass. Nowadays ibriks are mass produced using stainless steel which is more durable. (I still prefer the brass ibriks for lots of reasons...). Use the proper size of the ibrik coffee pot. If you are going to make two demitasse cups of coffee don't use a 5-cups size coffee pot. If you use a much larger sized pot, crema forming will be much harder.

For one cup of coffee, fill the coffee pot with one demitasse cup of cold water, 1-2 teaspoons of Turkish coffee, sugar to taste, and then put the pot on low fire. It is imperative to use low fire and cold water to extract more flavour from the Turkish coffee. Use a gas stove-top or preferably a traditional tabletop burner.

Once the mixture comes to a boil pour it in a demitasse cup slowly in order to retain the crema layer on top. If you fail to remove the coffee pot from fire on time, the coffee mixture will foam up quickly and it will get spilled everywhere! Be careful to not let this happen! There is an old trick used to maximize the crema layer on top of every demitasse cup, which basically involves taking the crema with a teaspoon and adding it to each demitasse cup, before pouring the coffee.

Traditional Turkish coffee cups have brass or copper saucers with really beautiful design. Usually the coffee is served using discs like the one in the photograph, paired with a nice desert!

Some people prefer to bring the coffee to boil several times to create a more intense flavour with stronger body. Experiment and find the method you like. The blend and roast level of the coffee used also affects the coffee making method. I never bring a dark roasted Turkish coffee to boil more than once. It creates a very strong flavour somewhat bitter which I don't like.

You can find everything you need to make Turkish coffe in our store.

Turkish Coffee Making Video

Below you watch a video tutorial I created to show you how to make Turkish coffee at home. Enjoy this video and email me for your feedback!

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You can pair your Turkish coffee with authentic Turkish coffee delights, or another traditional Turkish desert like baklava! Enjoy delicious Turkish coffee with your friends and share your thoughts in our coffee forum.

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Professional Automatic Turkish Coffee Makers

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