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World-famous Turkish
coffee (Türk kahvesi) is
made by pulverizing freshly-roasted
medium-roast beans in a mortar
and pestle, or grinding them very
fine in a cylindrical brass coffee
mill (kahve değirmeni).
Here's
how to order Türk
kahvesi when you're in Turkey:
Sade (sah-DEH)
- plain, no sugar (fairly bitter)
Az
şekerli (AHZ sheh-kehr-lee)
- with a little sugar (takes
off the bitter edge; less than
a teaspoon per cup)
Orta
şekerli (ohr-TAH sheh-kehr-lee)
- with medium sugar (sweetish;
about a teaspoon of sugar for
each cup)
Çok
şekerli (CHOK sheh-kehr-lee)
- with lots of sugar (quite sweet;
two teaspoons of sugar or more)
Here's how to make your own Turkish
coffee:
Put
the
coffee powder (about one teaspoon
per demi-tasse cup of coffee) into
a cezve (JEZZ-veh),
a special
pot with a wide
bottom, narrower neck, a spout, and
a long handle. Add
sugar and a Turkish coffee
cup (fıncan) of
cold water for each cup of coffee
you're making, then heat the brew
to frothing three times. (When the
froth reaches the cezve's
narrow neck, it's a sign to remove
the pot from the heat and let the
froth recede.)
After
the third froth-up, pour a bit
of the froth into each cup. Bring
the liquid still in the cezve to
the froth-point once more, then
pour it immediately, muddy grounds
and all, into the Turkish coffee
cups, which are smaller than demi-tasse
cups.
Wait at
least a minute for the grounds to
settle before you pick up the tiny
cup and sip. Enjoy the rich, thick
flavor, but stop sipping
when you taste the grounds coming
through. Leave the “mud” in
the bottom of the cup.
(Fortune-tellers turn
the cup over on the saucer, lift
off the cup, and read your future
in the sloppy grounds.)
European-
and American-style coffees
are readily available in Turkey,
and it's now possible to get a
good cup of French-style or Starbucks-style
brew, as well as Italianate espresso and cappuccino. Instant
coffee such as Nescafé is everywhere
as well.
Occasionally
you may encounter the older, disappointing
style of non-Turkish coffee. You
may want to add milk and make it sütlü kahve (coffee-with-milk).
On
the other hand, you may be better
off drinking Turkish
tea.
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