Many believe that Turkish coffee produces the most delicious coffee - rich, with a deep, multifaceted taste and bright aroma, with a beautiful dense foam. But this is for experienced coffee makers, and it can be very difficult for beginners to learn how to make a really good drink. It’s not clear where to start, what kind of coffee to take, there are many nuances. We tell you what kind of coffee is brewed in a Turkish coffee pot, how many ingredients to take and what the result will be.
Grain or ground?
The very first question that may arise is what is better to brew in a Turkish coffee pot – ground coffee or beans. The confusion arises because many recipes say: take whole grain coffee or 5-7 grams of beans. But the beans themselves are not boiled, but bean coffee is called to distinguish it from instant coffee, which is the same as ground coffee. Soluble is also not used, even if it contains some grains ground into dust. That is, instant with the addition of natural ingredients does not need to be boiled; it is simply poured with hot water in a cup.
In Turks, only ground coffee is brewed.
Calorie content of coffee beans
For those who are watching their figure, it is important to know the calorie content of coffee beans. The grains themselves have an energy value of 331 kcal per 100 g, of which:
13.9 g – proteins;
29.5 g – carbohydrates;
14.4 g – fats.
The calorie content of natural bean coffee without sugar and without milk is only 2 kcal per 100 mg. This is very little. With moderate addition of sugar, calorie content increases to 10-15 kcal; milk or cream – 40-60 kcal; milk or cream with sugar – 70-80 kcal.
Choosing grinding for Turkish
It is advisable to grind the beans immediately before brewing, but you can buy packaged ground coffee.
- If you have an adjustable grinder, set it to the lowest settings so that the grind is fairly fine, this will be best.
- If you buy beans that have already been ground, choose a fine grind, for espresso, or a medium grind. In general, definitely not large. If nothing is indicated on the packaging, it means that there is an average size of granules.
- If you buy beans in a coffee shop and are offered to grind them, just tell the seller that you are going to prepare the drink in a Turk, and he will do everything right.
The packaging may indicate the grind for Turkish coffee or Oriental coffee. This is what you need!
Preparing a drink in a coffee maker
If you have high-quality coffee beans, there is no question about how to brew the drink if you have a coffee maker at home. All you have to do is choose what type of coffee to treat yourself to. But strong espresso cannot be prepared without hot water pressure, which is only provided by a coffee machine. But you can drink a smooth Americano. To cook it, you must proceed as follows:
- Decide what grind of coffee you need.
- Grind coffee beans.
- Depending on the type of coffee maker, place the filter in a special compartment. If the filter is built-in, you don't need to do anything with it.
- Pour the resulting coffee powder into the filter. Based on the required amount of coffee, you can study the instructions for the device, focus on average standards, or act experimentally.
- Pour cool and clean water into the appropriate reservoir of the unit and turn on the coffee maker.
- A few minutes after the process is completed, when the drink is not dripping into the tank, you should turn off the device and enjoy the taste of the prepared coffee.
Arabica or Robusta?
In general, Turkish coffee brews the kind of coffee you like, so you can take both Arabica and Robusta - the choice depends on your taste preferences.
- Arabica contains much more oils, so the drink acquires a bright aroma, multifaceted taste, and light sourness, which is appreciated by coffee lovers.
- Robusta is stronger, bitter, more pronounced, it has more caffeine, but the taste and smell are somewhat flat.
It is best to use either Arabica or a mixture of Arabica and Robusta for cooking in a Turk.
The degree of roasting is also important: light, medium or dark. The more the beans are roasted, the stronger and even somewhat bitter the taste will be.
- Light, American roasting is usually used for elite varieties of Arabica, so as not to burn the oils and to maximize the nuances of flavors and aftertastes.
- Medium roast, Viennese, is the golden mean, most mass-produced coffee is roasted this way, and you can choose it to start with, and then you will understand whether you need to enhance the taste.
- Dark, Italian, French or Spanish roasting gives the drink a noble bitterness and makes it taste a little stronger.
If you plan to dilute your coffee with milk or just want a feeling of strength, take a dark roast; if you drink black, take a medium or even light roast.
Useful tips
Having chosen the appropriate method for brewing coffee, you can start preparing. Additional recommendations will help you achieve excellent results.
What spices can you add?
To get a very tasty drink, it is recommended to use additional ingredients when preparing it. Among the most successful options are the following products:
- Cinnamon - gives a distinct warm aroma. Has a positive effect on the body.
- Cloves - partially neutralizes the effects of caffeine and adds a piquant taste.
- Ginger - helps to achieve a special freshness of aroma, stimulates metabolic processes.
- Ground black pepper - gives an invigorating, spicy smell.
- Vanilla - thanks to it the drink turns out soft and sweetish.
How long to brew coffee
The duration of brewing does not play a decisive role. The sequence of actions performed is much more important. For example, when using a cezve, coffee is considered ready after raising the foam three times. In a geyser coffee maker, cooking is completed a minute after the liquid boils. It takes literally 30 seconds to get an espresso from a coffee machine.
How long can you store
The drink should be drunk immediately after its preparation is completed. After 30 minutes, it will lose its original aroma and the taste will deteriorate. True, there are exceptions - coffee brewed in a thermos and cold coffee cocktails. It should be borne in mind that storing the finished drink for more than a day is strictly prohibited.
Coffee to water ratio
In principle, there are no strict proportions. They depend on personal preference. The classic preparation involves using a teaspoon of coffee powder per 100 ml of water. If you add more liquid, the strength will decrease. If you use an increased dose of beans, the effect of caffeine will be more pronounced.
Making coffee is a creative process. All recipes can be modernized if desired. Only with the help of experiments will it be possible to obtain a result that corresponds to personal preferences.
What kind of coffee does Turkish coffee make?
There are so many types of this drink that it’s not immediately clear what to expect.
It's definitely not espresso - you can brew very strong coffee, but it won't be traditional espresso because it's brewed under pressure. Rather, Turkish coffee is closer to Americano or filter coffee, but at the same time it is still different. If you take coffee that is “correctly” ground, that is, closer to the dust (and this is how it is prepared according to Eastern traditions), it will be thicker, denser, and richer than a regular Americano.
When preparing coffee in a Turk, a high head of dense foam should form, into which microparticles of coffee “dust” fall. In the East, it is believed that serving coffee without foam is disrespectful to guests. Foam forms in the neck, so it is important to take a Turk with a volume of one cup. If there are two people in the family who drink coffee, either take a large one for two and prepare a drink for two at the same time, or buy two small Turks. In a large one, it simply won’t be possible to prepare a canonical drink for one, since the liquid will not reach the level of the neck.
In principle, nothing bad will happen if you brew a portion of the drink in a large coffee maker, so you don’t have to immediately buy cezves for everyone.
Chemex
Chemex was invented by a real scientist, a man named Peter Schlumbom. He assembled this device from a flask and a funnel, which he connected with a wooden rim wrapped with a leather ribbon. A special filter is inserted into the upper part, coffee is poured into it, and then hot water is poured through this coffee in a thin stream (the temperature should not be higher than 94º C, no need to use boiling water). This process will take no more than 4 minutes, and as a result you will receive a rich drink in which all the features of the grain you have chosen will clearly manifest themselves. Important nuance! First, wet the ground coffee, wait a little, and only then pour in the rest of the water.
Chemex
How to brew coffee in Turkish?
There are a lot of recipes, and you can try dozens of them over time. But the basic principle is usually the same:
- Pour ground coffee into the coffee pot at the rate of one and a half teaspoons per 250 ml cup.
- Measure out the required amount of water using the same cup you will drink from.
- Place the Turk on the stove, setting the heat to medium.
- Wait until it starts to boil and foam rises.
- Remove the Turk and keep it away from the heat until the foam almost settles.
- Return the heat and wait for the foam to rise a second and third time.
- Turn off the heat. If the stove is electric, move it from a warm burner. If the Turk is ceramic, you should pour the drink, as it will continue to cook in the clay.
Do not leave coffee in the Turkish coffee pot for a long time - it continues to be saturated with oils from the grounds and will be very strong and bitter.
When can you pour boiling water over coffee?
There are times when it is not possible to prepare coffee correctly. A compromise option of brewing using boiling water may be a way out of the situation. Cooking begins with preparing the dishes - choosing a massive cup and a heavy metal spoon. Pour boiling water into a cup with a spoon in it and wait until the container gets very hot. After this, quickly pour ground coffee into a cup with a hot spoon (preferably with a reserve) and pour boiling water over it. With proper skill, you can get good coffee with foam in this way, close to the taste of brewed coffee.
What kind of coffee can be brewed in a Turkish coffee pot?
You can experiment by adding additional ingredients and spices to the traditional drink, and each of them will slightly change the taste of the finished coffee. Try one, and when you understand the nuances of flavor, add other types. For example, the most commonly used are:
- Cinnamon – stick or ground;
- Nutmeg - it’s better if you take the nut and scrape it with a knife over a Turk, but you can also use ground nutmeg;
- Cardamom - one grain per turk is usually enough, you can crush it slightly so that the taste is better revealed;
- Star anise is one grain, no more. And you definitely shouldn’t crush it, the taste will still be bright.
- Vanilla - in pods, in the form of vanillin or vanilla sugar - is always a good option.
Sugar can be added at the very beginning, but milk or cream can be added directly to the cup; you should not brew coffee with them in a Turk, especially if the neck is narrow and you cannot rinse the container properly.
How to choose coffee beans?
The taste of coffee depends not only on the variety, but also on the method of processing the beans. The degree of roasting of the beans plays a big role in the final taste:
- Easy. When lightly roasted, the finished coffee has a sour taste. These beans contain the highest amount of caffeine.
- Average. This option is ideal for cooking at home. As a result, the drink turns out aromatic and strong.
- Strong. Coffee made from heavily roasted beans will be appreciated by lovers of a bitter and strong drink.
- Very strong. If you prefer a tart and rich taste, you can choose this option, but it is worth considering that with this method of roasting the grains lose their beneficial properties.
You can assess the degree of roasting by the color of the beans: from light brown for light to black for very strong.
It is important to pay attention to the packaging. When exposed to air, coffee loses its original taste, so the beans must be reliably protected. For the same reason, it is not recommended to buy large packs in order to be able to enjoy a fresh and tasty drink every day.
Rating of the best cooking recipes
To satisfy the tastes of even the most fastidious coffee lover, there are many recipes for preparing the drink. Below is a rating of the most popular and common cooking methods.
Spanish passion, Cortado coffee
This is for lovers of a strong coffee drink with added milk. Usually served with fresh, still warm bread and dry-cured pork.
You will need:
- Transparent glass with a capacity of 200 ml.
- Freshly prepared Arabica coffee.
- 50 g low-fat milk.
- One teaspoon of brown sugar.
Put sugar in a heated transparent glass and pour in the milk, whisk a little until thick and very carefully add the already prepared drink.
Burning Moroccan coffee
The most delicious coffee, prepared with aromatic absinthe and spices. It is perfect to cook on days of complete relaxation.
You will need:
- Two teaspoons of finely ground Mocha coffee.
- One teaspoon of sugar.
- 50 g cinnamon.
- A few cloves.
Place sugar in a very hot pot and heat until golden brown. Add cinnamon and cloves, stir. When the sugar melts, add ground powder to the mixture and pour hot boiled water over everything. Bring over low heat until the first bubbles appear. Remove from heat. Mix everything and put it on the fire again. And as soon as bubbles start to appear, turn it off. Very quickly light the absinthe in a spoon and pour it into the coffee. This drink should only be drunk hot.
With chocolate syrup
You will need:
Boil the ground Robusta beans in a Turk in the usual manner. You will get a very rich taste and aroma. Beat cream with powdered sugar. Place ice cream and whipped cream in a transparent glass, pour beautiful chocolate syrup on top. Pour coffee in a small stream and very slowly down the side of the glass. The coffee will be at the bottom and the integrity of the layers will not be compromised.
There are a huge number of coffee recipes. It all depends on the courage to experiment with ingredients. Coffee beans can be combined with spices and alcoholic beverages. The main thing is proportions. Good luck!
