Turkish coffee and Turkish coffee preparation

Turkish coffee

Beans for Turkish coffee are ground to a fine powder. Preparation consists of immersing the coffee grounds in water and heating until it just boils. This method produces the maximum amount of foam. If the coffee is left to boil longer, less foam remains. In Turkey, four degrees of sweetness are used. The Turkish terms and approximate amounts are as follows: sade(plain; no sugar), az şekerli (little sugar; half a level teaspoon of sugar), orta şekerli (medium sugar; one level teaspoon), çok şekerli (a lot of sugar). Before boiling, the coffee and the desired amount of sugar are stirred until all coffee sinks and the sugar is dissolved.

Turkish coffee is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Turkey confirmed by UNESCO.

Preparation:

Turkish coffee refers to a method of brewing very finely ground coffee. Any coffee bean may be used; arabica varieties are considered best, but robusta or a blend is also used. The beans must be ground to a very fine powder, which is left in the coffee when served. The coffee may be ground at home in a manual grindermade for the very fine grind (home electric grinders are not suitable), ground to order by coffee merchants in most parts of the world, or bought ready-ground from many shops.

Turkish coffee is made by bringing the powdered coffee with water and usually sugar to the boil in a special pot called cezvein Turkey, and often called ibrik elsewhere. As soon as the mixture begins to froth, and before it boils over, it is taken off the heat; it may be briefly reheated twice more to increase the desired froth. Sometimes about one-third of the coffee is distributed to individual cups; the remaining amount is returned to the fire and distributed to the cups as soon as it comes to the boil. The coffee is traditionally served in a special type of small porcelain cup called a kahve finjanı.

Sugar is added to Turkish coffee while brewing, so the amount of sugar must be specified when preparing the coffee. It may be served unsweetened (Turkish: sade kahve), with little or moderate sugar (Turkish: orta şekerli), or sweet (Turkish: tatlı). Coffee is often served with something small and sweet to eat, such as Turkish delight. It is sometimes flavoured with cardamom, mastic, salep, or ambergris. A lot of the powdered coffee grounds are transferred from the "cezve" to the cup; in the cup, some settle on the bottom but much remains in suspension and is consumed with the coffee.