Turkish Coffee - Legal Drama.

[Mister Moo]

Turkish (Greek, Arabic) coffee is just wonderful. It took me years to get around to make it because the grinds-in-the-cup thing sounded too disgusting. I didn't get it until I finally had some. I made OK progress until an Egyptian friend finally taught me the fine points.



By the way, you don't get grounds in your mouth - trust me. For them what never been - you gotta go...



Also, BOTL mosesbotbol talked up using cardomom pods crushed immediately before use as opposed to using ground cardamom from the spice jar - HUGE difference, that.

[ashtonlady]

New question for this thread. I home roast, what is the best roast for this?

[Mister Moo]

Anything at all. I've tried everything - it's all good if fresh.

[mosesbotbol]

Go real easy on the sugar (while making it) as a treat is to mix in some black Sambuca for sweetness and additional flavor in each cup.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

I made OK progress until an Egyptian friend finally taught me the fine points.

That's one animated face with alot of personality Dan!

My work takes me out into the Russian/Armenian community on a daily basis, and I've had the opportunity (most consistantly) in sampling Armenian coffee. So much so, everyone wants to buy me a pot and coffee so I can make it at home (of course I have to turn it all down, but its a nice gesture non the less).

Of course, the Armenian' I come across accuse the Turkisk folks of stealing this form of coffee and calling it all theirs, and I'm sure this possibly crosses lines with the 600 year war at some point in time

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by MarkinCA

...Armenian' I come across accuse the Turkisk folks of stealing this form of coffee and calling it all theirs...

Well... the Ottoman empire did cover a lot of grounds.

[guitar4001]

i drank alot of turkish coffee in college. If you make it wrong, you'll be chewing it, but if made right, it is wonderful stuff. I made it with equal parts coffee and sugar. It seemed like I was always struck with a sudden need for the bathroom about 20 mins after drinking a cup or two.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by guitar4001

It seemed like I was always struck with a sudden need for the bathroom about 20 mins after drinking a cup or two.

[physiognomy]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Show us your turkish coffee!

I feel obliged to oblige...



Good stuff!!! The owner of my local Middle Eastern market recommended Najjar Classic to me & I've enjoyed the blend with added Cardamom (green bag).

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by physiognomy

I feel obliged to oblige... Good stuff!!! The owner of my local Middle Eastern market recommended Najjar Classic to me & I've enjoyed the blend with added Cardamom (green bag).

Nice!

If you have a mortar and pestle advise your addy and I'll mail you some cardamom pods.

Originally Posted by guitar 4001

...I made it with equal parts coffee and sugar. It seemed like I was always struck with a sudden need for the bathroom about 20 mins after drinking a cup or two.

Dag... that sounds like a lot of sugar and I like sugar but, with turkish, it seems as good with as without. I guess that approximates a cuban coffee. For the medium pot I think I use 7 ounces water x 2T coffee x 2t sugar (or less) x 1/8t cardamom.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by physiognomy

I feel obliged to oblige... Good stuff!!! The owner of my local Middle Eastern market recommended Najjar Classic to me & I've enjoyed the blend with added Cardamom (green bag).

That looks delicious...

[slickster81]

Anybody try making this with Splenda instead of sugar?

I have a Lebanese market very close to work, they have Turkish grind coffee, with cardamom or without, as well as a good supply of ibriq at reasonable prices.

I've made Turkish style coffee in my SS ibriq before, good foam, but never added sweetener as I cannot stand the aftertaste sugar leaves in my mouth when combined with coffee....

[MarkinAZ]

Through an Armenian source, I located an excellent market on the border of Glendale/Burbank that has everything you could ask for. Talk about Ibrik city! There was copper, SS, and everything. I picked up a copper ibrik for $7.99 and walked over to the coffee section. I was just like a little kid in a candy store (well, they had that too...). I ended up choosing the Cafe Najjar Classic blue bag for $2.99 (7oz or 200gr) as I thought this would be a good introduction.

After briefly cleaning my new Ibrik, I filled it half way with some water and grounds and gave it a good boil to break it in. Dumped the mess and rinsed it out.

My Ibrik holds exactly 8oz of water measured up to the lip. I measured 6oz of water, 1T of turbinado sugar, and 2 healthy tsp of Najjar (no stirring) and threw a low-medium gas heat underneath. This took a number of minutes to bring a lite rolling boil from the sides to the center, while gradually thrusting it upwards. As the crema almost reached the top, I withdrew the Ibrik from the heat and let it rest for approximately 30 sec.

During the 2nd boil, I noticed it was simply bubbling from the side and there was no crema forming or upward movement to the top. I simply realized that possibly 1) This was due to low heat and 2) Maybe not enough ground coffee to help form a seal between the water and air. I proceeded forwards and dumped this first batch and started over again and added an extra tsp of ground coffee and raised the heat up to medium.

This appears to have worked and I got the desired results. I performed 4 boils/rests with stirring after the 4th boil/rest, and ended with a 5th boil and some decent crema which was spooned into my 10oz slim cup. After the rest, I slowly poured my newly created elixir and enjoyed sipping it this evening. Now I'm HOOK...

I'll get some photo' up here soon. Looking forward to adjusting the mixture for this size Ibrik, oh, tomorrow maybe?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by slickster81

Anybody try making this with Splenda instead of sugar?

Unless you are not for sweet coffee, Splenda won't taste the same. If you don't like sugar, try black Sambuca for sweetness.

[MarkinAZ]

The adventures in creating Turkish Coffee continues... Here's the set-up; Ibrik, Classic Najjar coffee, and turbinato sugar:

Recipe: 4oz cold water, 1 rounded tsp sugar, 3 generous tsp coffee and placed over a healthy low-medium gas flame:





Spooning as much crema into the cup and returning the Ibrik to the flame for final heating and additional crema, and the final results:


Hot dang this taste good! Still working out the bugs, but having a great time doing so...

[trogdor]

My wife's grandmother lives with us. She's originally from northern Italy and she makes this for me every weekend. I like to drink a cup or two of regular coffee first, then I go to town on the hi test