How to Make Turkish Coffee

I learned to make Turkish Coffee years ago.  While living in Los Angeles I visited several restaurants that offered Greek or Turkish coffee for after dinner.  I grew to love the brew so much that I had to learn how to concoct it myself.

You’ll need an ibrik.  This is a small copper or tinned pot with a handle attached.  Most ibriks are about the size of a standard coffee cup, but some are larger and will serve more guests.

Turkish coffee is about as finely ground as flour, and you can grind it yourself or buy it canned from an middle-eastern grocer.  For each demitasse scoop two teaspoons of coffee into the ibrik.  Next, add half as much sugar.  You can adjust for sweetness, of course.

Finish the preparation by adding a demitasse of water for each guest.  A small ibrik will accommodate about two expresso-style cups so keep that in mind.

Now, place the ibrik onto the stove.  Turkish coffee is cooked on the stove rather than brewed.  Heat the mixture and stir frequently.  As the coffee begins to boil it will create a foam that rises to the top of the ibrik.  Remove the ibrik and tap it against the stove a few times.  Then replace it onto the stove to boil again.  Repeat the tapping and replace the ibrik to the heat again.  Do this process a total of three times.  You do the tapping so the grounds will settle to the bottom of the ibrik.

Now, slowing pour the hot coffee into the demitasse being careful to leave as much of the grounds behind as possible.  When you get good at it there will be a rich, brown creme that forms on the top of the drink.  Serve with a date or piece of dried fruit or chocolate.  Cold Turkish coffee can be poured over French vanilla ice cream for a real treat.

Never order Turkish coffee in a Greek restaurant.  Greeks don’t care for that and will provide you with an terse lecture on the unfortunate history of the two countries.  You are welcome to take a finished cup and dash it upside down onto a saucer.  The grounds and drooling coffee will allow you to tell your guest’s future.  Mumble something about “travel in the days ahead.”  They will think you quite a character.  MB