How to Make Turkish Coffee

Before you start

Turkish coffee is coffee ground to a powder as fine as flour, simmered unfiltered with water and often sugar in a small long-handled pot called a cezve. The grounds stay in the cup and settle to the bottom, and a thick foam on top is the sign of a well-made cup. It is served small, strong and usually with water.

The main technique is heat control. Start with cold water, stir only until the coffee and sugar are mixed, then heat slowly so the foam rises gradually without boiling, which would destroy it and make the coffee bitter. Sugar must be added at the beginning; it cannot be stirred in later without breaking the foam.

Ingredients

• 7 g (1 heaping tsp) Turkish coffee — ground to a fine powder
• 70 ml (2½ oz) cold water — measured with the coffee cup
• 0 to 2 tsp granulated sugar — none for sade, 1 tsp for orta, 2 tsp for şekerli
• 1 cardamom pod — optional, lightly crushed

Method

1. Measure the cold water using the coffee cup itself and pour it into the cezve.
2. Add the coffee, sugar and cardamom if using. Stir gently until the coffee is fully wetted and the sugar dissolves, with no dry clumps.
3. Put the cezve on low heat. Do not stir again. Watch as a dark foam forms around the edge after 2 to 3 minutes.
4. When the foam starts to rise toward the rim, just before it boils, remove the cezve from the heat. Spoon a little foam into the cup.
5. Return the cezve to the heat briefly until the foam rises once more, then pour the coffee slowly into the cup, keeping the remaining foam on top.
6. Let the coffee stand for about 1 minute so the grounds settle. Sip slowly and stop before the thick sludge at the bottom.

Tips for success

• Grind matters most. Turkish coffee must be powder-fine; even an espresso grind is too coarse to foam and settle properly.
• Use cold water. Starting cold gives the foam time to form before the coffee reaches boiling point.
• A smaller cezve gives a better foam for one cup. If you make two cups, use a pot sized for two.

Substitutions

Turkish coffee grounds

Any medium roast can be ground in a Turkish hand mill or a burr grinder with a Turkish setting. Pre-ground Turkish coffee is easier and widely sold.

Cardamom

A pinch of ground mastic or a drop of rose water can be added for regional flavors.

Cezve

A very small saucepan works, but its wide base makes the foam harder to build and watch.

Variations

Turkish coffee with cardamom

Add 1 lightly crushed cardamom pod per cup with the coffee for a fragrant cup common across the Middle East.

Sand-brewed

For a traditional style, heat the cezve in a tray of hot sand for very slow, even heating.

Troubleshooting

No foam formed on top

The coffee boiled or was stirred during heating. Heat slowly on low and stop just before boiling.

Coffee is bitter

It boiled or was heated too long. Remove it as soon as the foam rises.

Grounds in your mouth

The coffee was not left to settle. Wait about 1 minute and stop drinking at the sludge.

Storage

Serve immediately. Turkish coffee cannot be reheated without losing its foam. Store ground Turkish coffee in an airtight container away from heat and light and use it within 2 weeks, since powder-fine grounds stale quickly.