RoyceRuiz Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2012 Posts: 47 Location: Hollister, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Wed Dec 12, 2012, 4:04pm Subject: First experience with Turkish (or Greek) coffee.
So I was in San Francisco yesterday on a business trip and ended up at a very nice Greek restaurant. They offered what they were calling "Greek style coffee" but when I saw the literally dozens of ibriks being used I knew that I needed to try it (I had recently read Mark's guide on brewing Turkish coffee). After trying it I'm not sure if this was a good example of the brewing method or not but my suspicion is that it was not. It was served in about a 3 oz cup and after drinking 2/3 of it I could turn the cup on it's side and the sludge would take about 5 seconds to get to the edge of the cup. I expected a certain amount of sludge since the coffee is unfiltered but not like that. Is this how it should be? Since I think it is not I will need to try some somewhere. I would love to try it at home but my grinder is not up to grinding Turkish fine. Does anyone know of a shop in northern California that brews good Turkish coffee? Anyone know what the difference between Turkish and Greek coffee is? Is it just a name?
qualin Senior Member Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 458 Location: Calgary, AB Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto 3 Grinder: Mazzer Mini Elect. Type A Vac Pot: Looking to buy Drip: Manual Roaster: Considering?
Posted Sun Dec 16, 2012, 1:31am Subject: Re: First experience with Turkish (or Greek) coffee.
The coffee you drank sounds like it was prepared properly. Usually after brewing and pouring, one should usually let the cup sit for a little bit so that the sludge settles. It is normal for only about 2/3 to 3/4 of the cup to be drinkable. It all depends on how the barista pours the coffee into the cup and if they let it settle in the Brikka or Ibrik before they poured it.
Greek and Turkish coffee is generally prepared the same way, but Greek coffee usually has teaspoon of sugar added. Usually, when it is boiled, it is taken off the heat right as soon as it "Blooms" and then it is consumed. Whereas, I know some turks like to "Boil" it twice. ie. Take it off the burner after it blooms, let it settle, then put it back on until it "blooms" again.
A lot of greeks and turks use a special coffee mill just for turkish grind. This is what a traditional turkish coffee mill looks like: http://www.turkishgiftbazaar.com/grinders/coffe/02coffee.htm (I can't say I can recommend buying from this site though, I'm not endorsing it.. Buy at your own risk.)
I'm not sure if using an espresso grinder to grind turkish would be a good idea if yours could.. My thought is that the output would be quite slow and it would be hard on the motor..
Posted Sun Dec 16, 2012, 2:22pm Subject: Re: First experience with Turkish (or Greek) coffee.
Turkish/Greek is a decoction method, and is unfiltered. The drink is separated from the grounds merely by settling, so it looks like you've had it prepared properly.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
Posted Mon Dec 17, 2012, 8:17am Subject: Re: First experience with Turkish (or Greek) coffee.
qualin Said:
I'm not sure if using an espresso grinder to grind turkish would be a good idea if yours could.. My thought is that the output would be quite slow and it would be hard on the motor..
RoyceRuiz Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2012 Posts: 47 Location: Hollister, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Mon Dec 17, 2012, 10:36am Subject: Re: First experience with Turkish (or Greek) coffee.
Thanks for the thoughts. Although I knew that the coffee was unfiltered I expected more coffee sediment to stay in the ibrik when poured correctly. Now I guess I know although I would still love to find a place that specializes in the method to compare. I did enjoy the coffee, even with the sugar in it (I don't know when the last time I had sugar in coffee was). Does anyone know of a shop in northern California that brews turkish? Thanks.
Heh.. Actually, I've had Arab coffee from the Gaza strip, 2 weeks before they closed it off in 1992. It was considerably different in taste to the Turkish coffee I had in old Akka in Israel. Then my father in laws Greek coffee tastes even more different from even that.
Mind you, since he doesn't have a coffee grinder, he gets it pre-ground out of a can instead.
It makes me curious now what kinds of coffee blends would work great with either Greek or Turkish coffee.
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