Let’s start with perhaps a trivial question: What is Turkish coffee? “A coffee beverage prepared using the specific method of heating up finely ground coffee and water in a Cezve or Ibrik,” as defined by Specialty Turkish Coffee (STC).
This method of coffee brewing has been around for centuries during which it spread all around the world. In every culture, it carries its specific rituals and traditions, such as brewing it with an addition of spices or serving it with sugar and some sweets. Yet, when it comes to the taste of the resulting beverage, this method often produces bitter and over-extracted coffee. A taste experience we do not seek to obtain with Speciality coffee beans.
Turgay Yildizli pushes Specialty Turkish Coffee forward
Turgay Yildizli is 2013 World Cezve/Ibrik Champion. “When I was young they [parents] would buy freshly roasted beans and grind them at home, each had their favourite roaster and they used different grinding methods,” Turgay describes his early childhood memories.
“As times changed this fell out of common practice in Turkey, as well as in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where pre ground ready coffee became the norm. The tastes of bitterness and over extraction that most people associate with Turkish coffee are a result of the use of inferior quality pre-ground coffee and flawed brew techniques,” defined the problem the world champion in the Turkish Coffee preparation. He created the Specialty Turkish Coffee website with the aim of introducing the Turkish Coffee culture to specialty coffee principles.
All you need to brew a delicious Turkish Coffee
– specialty coffee beans (it’s best to use light to medium roasted, fresh coffee)
– good quality water (check the SCAA Water Standards or Barista Hustle Water)
– Turkish coffee grinder (we have been using the handmade SÖZEN grinder)
– digital scale
– Turkish coffee pot known as cezve or ibrik (we have been using handmade SOY Copper Cezve)
– stirrer (preferably a wooden paddle)
– heat source (preferably easily adjustable such as a micro burner)
– timer (we are using the timer on our Acaia/Hario scales to get the reference for our brewing recipe)
– Turkish coffee cup (we have been using the Sufi cups designed by Faruk Malhan)
9 Steps To Make Turkish Coffee
1 – Weigh 7 grams of coffee (we recommend 1 to 10 ratio of coffee to water)
2 – Grind your coffee finely. It should be between very fine Turkish coffee and espresso grind sizes
3 – Add the freshly ground coffee to the Turkish coffee pot
4 – Slowly pour 70gr of water at 60°C into the pot, over the coffee grounds
5 – Stir the coffee-water mixture well with a wooden paddle. The agitation prevents clumps in the slurry and promotes an even extraction
6 – Place the coffee pot over the heat source, adjust the heat source to obtain an optimal brew time. Do not agitate during brewing
7 – Total brew should be around 2-2½ min. Watch carefully: when the foam begins to rise towards the rim—and before the coffee boils—remove it from the heat
8 – Hold the cup at an angle to help retain the foam, pour the brew slowly into the cup
9 – Allow the coffee to settle 1–2 minutes before drinking, be careful not to drink the settled grounds.
