Turkish Coffee

Turkish Coffee

From memory? Turkish Coffee is best done in a small brazier atop a stove.

Traditionally, it’s a copper conical shape with a brass handle. Not terribly exotic, just functional. Roasted coffee beans are ground super-fine, like dust or talcum powder, then combined with various aromatic herbs, typically cardamon, ginger, and cinnamon, then water is added, maybe two parts water per one part coffee.

The coffee is brought to a boil, let cool, then boiled a second time. As it cools, it’s served in a demitasse, a true Turkish coffee is supposed to served in an ornate one-ounce cup.

Zaatar in San Antonio missed the brazier, replaced with a more utilitarian stove-top pot, but the coffee, water, spices, and insulated handle were correct. As it cools, the fine grinds settle. Still found their way into my coffee (see Sagittarius), but it’s to be expected. Hint of cardamom. Not quite the correct cup, it close enough, and better yet, the right flavor.

It was flavor, plus the kitchen-battered pot itself that sold the coffee. Hot off the stove, fine grounds still roiling in the mixture, just good stuff, and not too sweet.

Turkish Coffee

Zaatar

Turkish Coffee

About the author: Born and raised in a small town in East Texas, Kramer Wetzel spent years honing his craft in a trailer park in South Austin. He hates writing about himself in third person. More at KramerWetzel.com.

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