How to make traditional Turkish coffee?

In a cezve, pour 60 ml cold water per cup and 7 g ultra-fine coffee, stir, then heat on low flame without stirring again. As soon as foam rises (around 90-95 °C), pull the pot, spoon the kaymak foam into each cup, put back on the heat briefly, then pour. Let the cup rest 30 seconds so the grounds settle.

The traditional recipe fits in a handful of steps, but each detail matters. Match the cezve size to the number of cups — 150 ml for two cups, 220 ml for three — because the pot must stay roughly half full for foam to form correctly. Start with cold water, never warm, so the temperature climbs gently and the aromatics extract softly. The classic ratio is one heaped teaspoon (7-8 g) of ultra-fine coffee for a 60-70 ml cup.

Order matters: cold water first, then coffee on top (some add sugar here — sade, az şekerli, orta, çok şekerli), stir for 10 seconds until the powder is fully wetted, then set on low flame. From that moment, no more stirring: the coffee forms a floating crust that thickens and traps volatile aromatics. Target temperature sits just below boiling, around 92-95 °C, reached in 3-4 minutes depending on the heat source. Tradition calls for a bed of hot sand (cezve kumu) for even heating — still used in Istanbul coffee houses and in a few specialty spots in Brussels.

The foam (kaymak) signals the end of extraction. When it rises evenly, pull the cezve. Spoon foam first into each finjan (small cup), so every guest gets their share — serving without kaymak is considered rude. Put the cezve back on the heat for 10-15 seconds to let the foam build a second time, then pour slowly. Some schools do three raises (Saudi-style), others two (Turkish standard), others just one (Bosnian). The coffee is served with a glass of water (to reset the palate) and usually a piece of Turkish delight or dark chocolate.

The 30-second rest isn't a detail — it is the time the ultra-fine grounds need to settle, leaving a dense but clean-feeling liquid. In Belgium, tinned copper cezves are found in Turkish grocery shops in Schaerbeek, Saint-Josse and Borgerhout, and pre-ground coffee to order is available from a handful of Brussels and Antwerp roasters with the right grinder. A crushed cardamom pod in the cezve (Levantine style) opens the profile toward honey and citrus; a pinch of mastic (Greece, Cyprus) adds a distinctive resinous note.

Turkish coffee — step-by-step for 2 cups