Turkish coffee preparation
Dave Tahija
location: Butte, Montana, en route from San Francisco to Juneau
listening to: Train - Save me, San Francisco
registered: 1999.12.27
posts: 261
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I lived in a remote part of eastern Turkey for over a year, still watch the Turkish newspapers and stay in close touch with many Turkish friends, both in the U.S. and in Turkey. Also, I drink Turk kahvesi every morning on the weekends.To make it properly, besides Turkish coffee, you need a cezve, a Turkish coffee pot:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CezveYou also need very small cups, like espresso cups, a very small spoon:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demitasse and sugar cubes.Put 1 heaping spoon (not a western spoon!) full into the cezve for each cup you're making. I think a 4 cup cezve is about the largest, two cup ones are common.Put in sugar cubes to taste. Turkish coffee is traditionally quite sweet - two sugar lumps for each tiny cup. You can make it without sugar or you can use more.Pour in one tiny cup of water for each cup of coffee. Don't stir or do anything else to it.Put the cezve on a medium burner. Gas or some other low flame is best. If you have to use an electric stove, use medium or just barely higher.The trick now is that you cannot look away until the coffee is done. Don't take your eyes off it for even a second. If it boils at all, it is ruined.At first, the coffee will be floating on top of the water. Some of it will sink, probably not all until the foaming starts. As the sugar lumps dissolve, the water level will go down a little.Very suddenly, the coffee will start to foam and the foam will rise rapidly. Immediately take it off the heat, pour and serve. Don't stir it or do anything else. Give it a couple of minutes to let the grounds settle and sip it.Very experienced coffee preparers will scoop out some foam into each cup and put the cezve back on the heat to foam up again but wait until you can make it successfully before trying that.Don't drink the grounds! You don't drink tea leaves, do you? I have heard the grounds can be mixed with dark chocolate sauce and served over ice cream. Also, people will tell your fortune with the grounds, much like with tea leaves.Sip it until you're in danger of ingesting grounds, then stop.
D
Dave Tahija
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I lived in a remote part of eastern Turkey for over a year, still watch the Turkish newspapers and stay in close touch with many Turkish friends, both in the U.S. and in Turkey. Also, I drink Turk kahvesi every morning on the weekends.To make it properly, besides Turkish coffee, you need a cezve, a Turkish coffee pot:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CezveYou also need very small cups, like espresso cups, a very small spoon:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demitasse and sugar cubes.Put 1 heaping spoon (not a western spoon!) full into the cezve for each cup you're making. I think a 4 cup cezve is about the largest, two cup ones are common.Put in sugar cubes to taste. Turkish coffee is traditionally quite sweet - two sugar lumps for each tiny cup. You can make it without sugar or you can use more.Pour in one tiny cup of water for each cup of coffee. Don't stir or do anything else to it.Put the cezve on a medium burner. Gas or some other low flame is best. If you have to use an electric stove, use medium or just barely higher.The trick now is that you cannot look away until the coffee is done. Don't take your eyes off it for even a second. If it boils at all, it is ruined.At first, the coffee will be floating on top of the water. Some of it will sink, probably not all until the foaming starts. As the sugar lumps dissolve, the water level will go down a little.Very suddenly, the coffee will start to foam and the foam will rise rapidly. Immediately take it off the heat, pour and serve. Don't stir it or do anything else. Give it a couple of minutes to let the grounds settle and sip it.Very experienced coffee preparers will scoop out some foam into each cup and put the cezve back on the heat to foam up again but wait until you can make it successfully before trying that.Don't drink the grounds! You don't drink tea leaves, do you? I have heard the grounds can be mixed with dark chocolate sauce and served over ice cream. Also, people will tell your fortune with the grounds, much like with tea leaves.Sip it until you're in danger of ingesting grounds, then stop.
