Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee is not one of the popular extraction methods in today’s developed world, and it’s a shame. It’s a romantic and intriguing method of making coffee that dates back to the 16th century, predating almost every other currently-used extraction method. It’s no caramel latte, and definitely not for the half strength coffee drinker. Do you love a big tall latte? Then don’t drink Turkish. This may be why it is out of style, why our culture has changed and the romantic notion of sipping on a strong brewed coffee has turned to latte sipping softies.

It’s also surprisingly easy to do. Your biggest expense is a good grinder - a decent electric burr grinder that can grind extra fine - finer than espresso - is needed; alternatively, there are “turkish mills” around, that can be had, sometimes for much less. These mills help bring back the romance from which solidified this extraction method 400 years ago.
Besides the grinder, you need good quality water (see reverse osmosis), good quality, fresh roasted coffee, a stirring spoon made of metal, and a device called an ibrik (also called a cezve). This is the brewer. It is usually made of copper, with a long wooden handle, though sometimes it is made out of steel or other metals. The pot has a wide base and a narrow top, with a spout on one or two sides for pouring. Ibriks can be found in a variety of sizes from 2 cup up to 8 cups.

It’s important to note the “cup size” of the pot is not matched to how much is brewed if full - in fact, there needs to be a good amount of airspace in the pot while brewing, but not too much. The process involves foaming up the liquid in stages, and if you use a pot that’s too big, too much of the foam sticks to the sides and can contribute to many bitters in the cup.

Oh, and you need a heat source. A gas stove, or one of those gasmate camping stoves works well. Electric stove tops can be used, although gas is more efficient in the process.

When done right, (and it’s not hard to do right), the coffee is very intense, but very pleasing to the tongue.

Never take your eye off the process when brewing turkish coffee. Things can happen in a blink of the eye - and you’ll create a big mess on your stove if you lose concentration. the last thing you want is for a molten water and coffee grind emulsion to over boil, covering your stove top with your morning cup of joe.

If you cannot handle the strong as death authentic flavour, it is acceptable to use middle eastern spices to enhance the end product. To tone down the strength and intensity of the brew, adding spices such as cardamom, anise, or an easily dis-solvable sugar are acceptable. In fact, sugar is almost considered part of the process (see this). The famous old proverb, - “Coffee should be as black as hell, as strong as death, and as sweet as love”- refers to turkish coffee, and you’ll note the sweet part.

To learn the actual brewing process, check out two recent tutorials and references to Turkish coffee - Wikipedia has a great one, and the Turkey Travel Planner has a good and brief how to as well.

So, source the equipment and give this method of extraction a go, you never know, the old proverb may become a mantra in how you learn to prefer your daily brew.