Turkish Coffee

[Mister Moo]

I'd ask experienced Turkish coffee drinkers for a personal opinion here. Shall we attempt to corrupt newcomers with an appeal that is modern:



or traditional:



or both? Cardamom or not cardamom?

[MithShrike]

My little pot is like the top one there Moo.

Shaul, that's how I was taught to make it.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by ShaulWolf

If y'all want to try the way a different way of making it here it is. Follow the same steps as before, slowly heating and stirring until the water comes to a boil. Just as the water boils take it off the heat and let it settle. Once it's settled some start heating the coffee again like before, stirring until it comes to a boil. Again, remove it from the heat, let it settle, and boil again. That's boiling it and letting it settle three times. After the third time it's ready to serve.

That's the way my grandma makes it, usually with a little sugar since it makes for a very strong brew. If you let the grinds settle before drinking you'll have some caked in the bottom of your cup. As a sort of game and tradition you can flip the cup over and let the grinds drip down the side. From the patterns made by the grinds someone will read your fortune.

That is the way I would make it too.

[burninator]

Looked into it briefly when I started making my own coffee for real. Seems like a lot to startup, though.

[novasurf]

Cardamom = Yes.
Yirgacheffe and Cardamom = Yes.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by novasurf

Cardamom = Yes.
Yirgacheffe and Cardamom = Yes.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Yirg.... and card'm......

[SilvrBck]

Ummm, isn't this just fancy boiled coffee? Yeah, you bring it to a boil slowly but in the end you boil it. Right? I guess I don't get it.

SB

[ghostrider]

Originally Posted by SilvrBck

Ummm, isn't this just fancy boiled coffee? Yeah, you bring it to a boil slowly but in the end you boil it. Right? I guess I don't get it.

SB

You don't actually let it come to a boil. As the water sugar/coffee/cardamom mix heats, it 'blooms' if you will, looking similiar to a boil. If done correctly, this creates a nice foam on top of the coffee that is served as well.

[SilvrBck]

Originally Posted by ghostrider

You don't actually let it come to a boil. As the water sugar/coffee/cardamom mix heats, it 'blooms' if you will, looking similiar to a boil. If done correctly, this creates a nice foam on top of the coffee that is served as well.

Ahh, I see. I bet you could use any finely ground coffee, no?

[muziq]

Just finished a very nice chai latte, and all of a sudden this tasty thread comes up. Hmm...might have to source the goodies to make a good Turkish coffee at home (hard enough to find it offered out and about around here)...

[ghostrider]

Originally Posted by SilvrBck

Ahh, I see. I bet you could use any finely ground coffee, no?

Technically, sure. If it's not fresh roasted (less than 10-14 days past roast) you're not going to develop much of a bloom. You want to grind this as fine as possible. Finer than an espresso grind. Talcum powder fine if possible.

[MithShrike]

Originally Posted by ghostrider

Technically, sure. If it's not fresh roasted (less than 10-14 days past roast) you're not going to develop much of a bloom. You want to grind this as fine as possible. Finer than an espresso grind. Talcum powder fine if possible.

I find the Central American coffees should be avoided for Turkish.

[gvarsity]

My neighbor in grad school was from turkey and made this for me regularly. Very good. Never got around to learning how to make it myself.

[ShaulWolf]

It isn't overly difficult to make, but it requires some attention to be paid to it to make sure you don't really boil the water. Ghostrider was right in that you don't really boil the water, you warm it up enough that a foam starts to form making it look much like a boil. Now if you do boil the water a little that's no big deal, just don't make it a rolling boil since that tends to make the coffee more bitter.

Fresh grinds is preferred, but not a necessity. My grandma didn't have much fresh grinds since she couldn't go to the store all the time to get it, but still made very good coffee from keeping the grinds in a well sealed preserve jar. I've never used anything other than the grind my grandma gave me to use, and we got that from an Armenian shop where they imported the beans. As mentioned before, grind it down as fine as talcum if you can. The finer the grinds the more evenly it'll be mixed with the water and the better the flavor.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by SilvrBck

Ummm, isn't this just fancy boiled coffee? Yeah, you bring it to a boil slowly but in the end you boil it. Right? I guess I don't get it.

SB

I was gifted a kilo of coffee+cardamom and a small stainless pot by Imthegoal last year. The learning curve is a lot less than a kilo and the required tools don't amount to much. Boiling is a mess and the taste is not nice; like Ghost'r said, you really miss the boil - just go slow and mind the heat when foam starts to show. Given the high 'like" proprotion I think we should promote this and achieve as many new T-coffee gorillas as possible. This drink really is a treat and there's nothing to it. It is probably excellent with, uh... steel cut oats and thick crispy bacon. For example. heh heh heh.

Boiled coffee is cowboy coffee. Feh.