not all who wander are lost.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Turkish Coffee.

Holy shitballs.

I am so caffeinated right now I feel like I'm buzzing likea bee. Flying. Yeeeew.


Had an EPIC day today -- did a power yoga class with Ari at the Zen Den, followed up by lunch and lattes with one of my besties, Miss Jamie D, at Who's on First Cafe, and then got in some Q.T. with ROB Kulisek. Rob and I are obsessed with all-things-coffee, so I was super stoked when he offered to brew me a turkish coffee. I've had java every which way...vietnamese, iced, french press, percolated, espresso, americano, latte, cappucino, this way that way and every other way -- but never turkish. CHEERS.


1. Using on of these cool stove top thing-a-ma-jiggers (technical name: "CEZVE") put in one teaspoon sugar, and fill with cold water.

2. Grind coffee to a powder. *If you are using whole beans: grind, grind, grind. If you are using ground coffee, grind grind grind. You want a powder.

3. Pour powder into little thing-a-ma-jigger. 3 heaping tablespoons for 2 people.

And now I will reference the professionals:

1. Pour in cold water in the coffee pot. You should use one cup of cold water for each cup you are making and then add an extra half cup “for the pot”. Add a teaspoonful of the ground Turkish coffee per cup in the water while the water is cold and stir. The amount of coffee may be varied to taste, but do not forget, there will be a thick layer of coffee grounds left at the bottom of your cup for properly made Turkish coffee. Don’t fill the pot too much. If you need to add sugar this is the time to do it.

2. Heat the pot as slowly as you can. The slower the heat the better it is. Make sure you watch it to prevent overflowing when the coffee boils.

3. When the water boils pour some (not all) of the coffee equally between the cups, filling each cup about a quarter to a third of the way. This will make sure that everybody gets a fair share of the foam forming on top of the pot, without which coffee loses much of its taste. Continue heating until coffee boils again (which will be very short now that it has already boiled). Then distribute the rest of the coffee between the cups.

Since there is no filtering of coffee at any time during this process, you should wait for a few minutes before drinking your delicious Turkish coffee while the coffee grounds settle at the bottom of the cup.


Brewing: Traditionally, and for the best taste, expect the brewing process to take 15-20 minutes. Slowly bring the mixture to a frothing boil on the stovetop. As the froth gets close to the top, just before it boils over, remove the ibrik from the heat, allow the froth to go down (you can do this by stirring), then replace it on the heat. After the third frothing boil, serve the froth in equal portions into each cup, replace it on the heat for a fourth frothing boil, then serve. (Although it has become commonplace to make Turkish coffee with only 3, 2 or just a single frothing boil, it generally tastes best with the traditional 4.)

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