Making Turkish Coffee
How to Make Turkish Coffee
While in the military, I had the opportunity to train with the Turkish Army during a joint operation. I was lucky to have a counterpart that loved coffee and wanted to show me how 'real' coffee was made! I am going to share those lessons with you here. Learn How To Make Turkish Coffee and some information about Turkish coffee & fortune telling.
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Yields: 2 servings
In Turkey, when you go to somebody’s house, the first question isn’t if you want to drink Turkish coffee, but rather how you would like to have your coffee prepared. By how, your host is asking about the amount of sugar you would like to have in your coffee. To answer the question, you may say “sade” which means no sugar; “az seker” which means very little sugar; “orta” which means with 1-2 teaspoons of sugar; or “sekerli” which means with 3-4 teaspoon sugar.Making Turkish coffee isn't overly complicated. But there are a few tips that help. For traditional brewing, you will need water, Turkish coffee (fine blend), sugar, and a wide bottom pot called a Cezve (you can purchase one by clicking the link).
When it comes to the water to Turkish coffee proportions, a simple rule-of-thumb is 1½ “cup” of water per serving.
(The “cup” measurement is the coffee cup that you are going to serve the coffee in, rather than a standard measuring cup.)
Combine 1 heaping tablespoon of coffee and sugar (as preferred) to the pot with water, and stir until well blended.
When cooking, use medium heat to bring the brew to a boil (usually a few minutes). A wonderful foam will form on the top of the pot. When you serve the coffee, use a spoon to put a little of the foam in each cup. Then pour the coffee on top and foam remaining into each cup.
When serving, it is traditional to serve oldest to youngest, to also give a glass of water, and potentially serve with something sweet. Milk is not usually added (that seems to be more of a 'Western' thing according to my liaison!)
What is Turkish Coffee reading (fortune-telling)?
It is a tradition that after you finish your coffee, you turn your cup upside down and let it cool down so that someone else can “read your cup”. This is a form of divination called Tasseography. The diviner looks into the cup looking for images and shapes in the residue of the cup. These images are then interpreted like tarot or oracle images.
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