How to make Turkish coffee, how to cook it on sand, recipe

Turkish coffee is undoubtedly one of the oldest drinks in the world, having occupied an important place in Turkish culture and has been preserved since the Ottoman Empire.

In 1543, the governor of Yemen, Ozdemir Pasha, brought coffee to Istanbul, which he admired.

And the Turks came up with a new method of preparing it, which became known as Turkish coffee or Turkish Coffee.

People learned about coffee thanks to coffee shops that opened in Tahtakal in Istanbul in 1554 and quickly spread throughout the city. Coffee, which occupies an important place in the Sultan's palace and homes, began to be consumed in large quantities.

In a short time, the taste and reputation of Turkish coffee spread throughout Europe and then the whole world, thanks to traders and travelers as well as ambassadors from the Ottoman Empire.

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi first introduced the coffee, which he roasted and first ground in his mill, for public consumption in 1871.

Turkish coffee is not only enjoyed by Turks, but also people from different cultures prefer it because of its delicious aroma and long-lasting taste in the mouth.

Turkish coffee making kit

Turkish coffee is usually prepared in 4 ways . Before preparing it, a cafe visitor is usually asked what kind of coffee he drinks.

No sugar is added to regular Turkish coffee. They also prepare coffee of less sweetness, to which 1 teaspoon of sugar is added, medium sweetness - with 2, sweet coffee - with 3 teaspoons of sugar.

To make good Turkish coffee, you first need to have the right tools and materials. A porcelain cup with a widened bottom and a narrowed top with a thick wall, finely ground Turkish coffee, and high-quality water are the most necessary tools when preparing Turkish coffee.

You also need the following equipment to prepare Turkish coffee:

Turkish coffee can be prepared in a cezve (on the sand or on the stove)
Turkish coffee can be prepared in an electric cezve
Turkish coffee can be prepared in an electrically heated sand device, a kind of sand coffee maker.
Turkish coffee can be prepared in a coffee machine
A coffee grinder is also needed if ground coffee is not available.

To ensure foamy coffee, you need to choose the right size cezve. That's why a well-equipped Turkish kitchen comes with coffee pots that range in size from 1 to 4 cups.

Preparation method: Turkish coffee on sand

Recently, the method of preparing coffee on sand, the history of which dates back to the era of the Ottoman Empire, has become widespread in Turkey.

Turks believe that this is one of the best ways to prepare delicious coffee today, which guarantees the full taste of the coffee and a large amount of foam.

In this way, the traditional Turkish coffee culture is being revived.

making coffee on sand in Turk

“Sand coffee is the best coffee technology I have ever seen. Because, according to our traditions, coffee was prepared over coals with very low heat. However, over time, it was no longer used due to the length of preparation,” says Dr. Ilkay Gök, assistant professor at Gaziantep University’s Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts.

According to him, in the modern world they began to consume coffee quickly on the run and prepare it within a few minutes, but without foam and without that old taste.

“Brewing coffee with sand is a wonderful technology that connects our past with the present. With the help of new sand coffee makers, coffee is prepared similarly to the old method, but using new technologies. Technology has provided us with a number of innovations and conveniences, but unfortunately, it makes us forget some of our cultural elements. Sand-brewed coffee allows us to relive the old Turkish coffee culture,” he emphasizes.

It's really nice to be able to drink delicious, foamy Turkish coffee using new technology, instead of modern ready-made coffee that is dissolved in hot water and drunk immediately.

Currently, Turkish manufacturers produce various types of practical sand coffee makers for use both at home and in coffee establishments. This is a kind of specialized brazier on which sand is poured. Electrical installations where sea sand is heated in the range of 50-300 degrees. It takes 20-30 minutes to heat up the sand until coffee is prepared. The preparation time for coffee on sand is 2-5 minutes.

These coffee makers have comfortable handles. Expensive options on the outside are subjected to special treatment with patterns applied in copper and other types of metals.

Depending on the size, design and material, such sand coffee makers cost from 400 to 2000 Turkish lira in Turkey. They also produce equipment in the form of a complete stand. Such equipment costs more, up to 8,000 Turkish lira.

Coffee made on sand tastes different from coffee made on the stove. This method gives the coffee more richness because the heat is evenly distributed while cooking on the sand. As a result, coffee is prepared in a balanced and convenient way. You can use a lot of cezve on the sand. Due to this convenience and the resulting taste of coffee, the equipment is widely distributed in coffee shops.

If you can’t afford such equipment, you can make coffee on sand at home, using everything at hand: a frying pan or baking sheet and a cezve.

The most popular coffee brands in Turkey

When visiting Turkey and wanting to purchase coffee products in this country, you should focus on the types of drink that are popular among local residents. Each type of bean or ground Turkish coffee has its own unique taste.

A classic high-quality drink with a slight bitterness is represented by the Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi variety. A well-known brand that you can buy with confidence.

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi

In the nineteenth century it was sold only in grains. Buyers had to fry the raw materials themselves and grind them two or three times. A few years later, these products appeared in ground form. Today this brand is considered a leader. Almost all locals drink it. The price per hundred grams is five liras. The manufacturer explains the low cost with its internal policy.

If someone likes a subtle sourness, then the choice should be a coffee called Abdullah effendi Türk Kahvesi. Other popular varieties found in various Turkish stores include:

Kahve Dünyasi Türk Kahvesi. The product only appeared on the market in 2004, but immediately became a favorite and gained popularity among the local population. The name of this drink began to be passed on to acquaintances and friends. Today, this Arabica coffee is known outside of Turkey. These are Saudi Arabia, Romania, England, Kuwait. One hundred grams costs seven liras, which is equivalent to 112 rubles. This is the average cost if you analyze all coffee products presented in Turkey.
Cezbeli kahve. An Istanbul coffee brand that has become especially popular in eight years. The products are of high quality. The best raw materials consist of 100% Arabica beans. The product is packaged in convenient bags. The cost of one hundred grams is 5 liras, and that’s not much. Thinking about how much it will be in terms of Russian rubles, the price will not exceed one hundred rubles.
Hisar Kahve. This coffee brand has been around for many years, when there was not much choice of such products yet. It began its existence in 1928. At first this was a small shop, the owners of which used modern technologies combined with Turkish traditions to prepare a delicious drink. You can buy one hundred grams for seven liras.
Nurettin Kocatepe Türk Kahvesi. This coffee company was founded in 1949. The main production using high-quality raw materials was organized in Ankara. The manufacturer uses the principle that their company will not sell what they themselves will not drink. This brand of coffee is distinguished by its highly roasted beans. The taste is interesting, soft and delicate.
Ülker Café Crown. This brand first gained popularity among consumers for its delicious chocolate, which every tourist also tries to bring home. After this, the manufacturer decided to focus on coffee. The main product is presented in the form of an instant drink with different tastes. Among them you can choose your favorite one. It could be caramel, pistachios, iced latte. One bag costs 0.60 liras.

In addition to Turkish brands, you can find and buy familiar products in this country. This is a Nescafe product. The local population has a great attitude towards this brand, the brand photo of which is familiar to everyone. But compared to their national products, Nescafe products are expensive and cost several times more. For one hundred grams you will have to pay thirty liras. A few years ago this coffee cost 15 liras.

Another famous coffee brand found in Turkey is Jacobs Monarch. This German brand offers filtered ground and instant products. Its cost is also higher than Turkish coffee goods. One hundred grams cost up to thirty rubles. But it is also often brought from Turkey.

How to make sand coffee at home?

If before this time you have always prepared Turkish coffee on the stove or over a fire, then after trying it, you will certainly change your habits and start preparing coffee on sand, the Turks assure.

Ingredients and materials for making sand coffee at home:

2 teaspoons Turkish coffee
2 cups water
Aquarium sand
Frying pan or baking sheet
Granulated sugar if necessary

Spread the aquarium sand evenly on the baking sheet. If you don't have a baking sheet, you can also use a frying pan. Place a sand-filled frying pan or baking sheet on the hob and turn on. Once the sand has reached a sufficient temperature, place the coffee ingredients into the copper pot and stir. Place the coffee pot in the middle of the sand and make a mound of sand around the Turk using a spatula in a circular motion. This reduces cooking time. The coffee will be ready after a few minutes of heating. Once the coffee starts to foam, you can remove the pot from the sand and pour it into the cups. Bon appetit.

You can enjoy better-tasting coffee by paying attention to a number of points when preparing coffee with sand. The most delicious coffee is made in a copper pot.

Also, the coffee must be fresh. You should store your coffee in airtight glass jars. The water you use for coffee should not be chlorinated, but purified drinking water.

Brewing Temperature : The most important feature of sand coffee is slow brewing. You need to make sure that the temperature in the coffee pot is not too high.

The sand creates uniform heating throughout the Turk. It is advised to choose quartz sand, the finest. Quartz can also be replaced with sea sand. Buy sand is sold in specialized stores; sea sand can be found in construction stores.

It is also recommended to mix sand with salt at home. Salt promotes a rapid increase in temperature, reducing the duration of the process.

The bottom of the Turk should not come into contact with the bottom of the roasting pan, or at home - a frying pan or baking sheet.

Traditionally, Turkish coffee is prepared in a roasting pan with sand and a small amount of small pebbles. There are also coffee shops where coffee is brewed both in a roaster with sand and in a separate roaster with only large pebbles. The cezve or the tall cup itself is immersed in hot sand to the middle or up to the very neck. The container must be moved periodically around the fryer.

As soon as the foam starts to rise, the coffee needs to be removed from the sand and returned to its place after half a minute. Repeat the procedure 2–6 times. However, the Turkish recipes themselves do not suggest repeating the cooking procedure.

The most important thing is to remove the Turk from the frying pan in time. Over-boiling will result in the loss of the aromatic taste characteristic of Turkish coffee.

Turkish coffee

Tips for making Turkish coffee

It is important that the ground coffee is as fresh as possible, because Turkish coffee made from stored ground coffee that has been stored for a long time or that has been moistened and opened will not taste very good.

Roasted grains are stored for no more than 2 weeks, since after this period they lose their aroma and flavor richness.

The coffee grind should be fine. However, if the grinding technology is not followed, due to grinding for too long, the coffee beans may overheat. Then the taste of the coffee will deteriorate.

It is also important that the water you use is potable (bottled). Chlorinated tap water will ruin your coffee. You also need to add cold water to the ground coffee.

Once you have placed the coffee on the stove or sand, you should not stir it. You need to mix when adding water and sugar to coffee. Then you need to wait until it cooks on its own. You should also pay attention to preparing coffee on low heat. Be careful when pouring coffee into cups. You should pour coffee into cups slowly and around the edge.

Coffee should be stored in a dry, airtight container and removed with a dry, clean spoon.

After washing, the Turk needs to be rinsed thoroughly to remove the smell and detergent residue.

Brew coffee strictly before serving, as it can cool and lose its properties, taste and aroma.

The foam that appears on the surface of the drink when heated must be intact.

You should not allow the coffee to boil; you just need to wait until the foam rises and then immediately pour it into a cup.

Turkish coffee set

What to add?

In Turkey, spices are often added to the main recipe, which are important to combine well with each other. For example, the combination of cinnamon, cloves and vanilla is very popular for making this drink at home.
You can vary your coffee preparation by adding cream or milk.

It has been very popular in coffee shops lately to serve coffee with syrups for every taste and color. Such options are very different from the original, but in order to please visitors, Turkish coffee can also offer completely unusual serving options with whipped cream and mashmallows, which is a very popular option today.

The coffee aroma, according to Turkish residents, is enhanced by adding a small amount of salt before serving.

For lovers of Turkish cuisine, several recipes for delicious dishes are offered: imam bayaldi, gubadia, achma, lahmacun, kufta.

How do they drink coffee in Turkish?

In Turkey, it is not customary to rush while drinking a drink. A drink prepared with trepidation and soul a priori cannot be drunk in a hurry, so coffee is consumed in small sips, imbued with the rich taste and special aroma, prolonging the pleasure over a pleasant conversation.

A mandatory attribute of a coffee meal is a sip of cold water before drinking the drink, this is how its aroma is revealed.

Turkish coffee is served in special small cups with cubes of Turkish delight or chocolate on a saucer and a glass of water. Taking a sip of water before tasting coffee activates your taste buds.

After coffee they also drink water. This will refresh your mouth and keep your teeth white. However, it is better to pause between drinks so that the hospitable host does not become upset and doubt his culinary abilities.

A little history of the recipe

They have been drinking coffee in Turkey since 1543 – it was then that the beans were brought into the country, from which this amazing drink is still brewed to this day. A year later, the first coffee shop appeared in the Ottoman Empire, where people spent time having pleasant conversations, enjoying the aroma of an invigorating drink. From that moment on, the culture of coffee consumption was born, and the famous recipe spread throughout the world.

Thanks to the Turkish people, people learned a lot about the preparation of an invigorating drink, its healing properties and the rituals associated with it.

Turkish coffee cups

The classic container for drinking coffee is small cups made of Turkish porcelain. Making coffee is a whole ritual for the Turkish people, and beautiful cups are part of this ritual. They are produced in such a way that they retain heat well during leisurely consumption of the drink.

The culture of appreciating coffee contributes to the development of a system of artistic crafts for the manufacture of tools, utensils and utensils for dispensing the drink.

Coffee mugs, trays, paints, portable coffee grinders, boilers, coffee pots, etc. have special artistic value and contribute to the creation of unique products. Offering coffee in exquisite cups is the Ottomans' way of honoring the dignity of those who love coffee.

The Ottoman Empire had a famous proverb, “The memory of a cup of coffee lasts 40 years,” understood as a precious moment where enjoying a cup of coffee with friends will be remembered for a lifetime. This proverb expresses the importance and depth in the Ottoman and modern Turkish culture of hospitality and friendship through coffee.

Who is recommended and contraindicated for?

How difficult it is sometimes to resist the aroma of an invigorating drink. Coffee not only has tonic properties, but can also be used as a natural antioxidant. And the substances contained can protect the body from diseases of the throat and teeth; coffee can also be used as a laxative and diuretic.

But, despite all the positive qualities, the drink still has a number of contraindications, for example, it should not be consumed by people suffering from hypertension. It is not advisable to give to children, pregnant and breastfeeding women; suffering from diseases of the stomach and intestinal tract.

Various Turkish coffee recipes

Coffee with cinnamon

Ingredients for Turkish coffee with spices:

water 150 ml;
ground coffee 1.5 tablespoons;
a pinch of cinnamon;
sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon.

Cooking method:

Add a mixture of sugar and cinnamon to the Turk and heat it, putting it on low heat.

Heat for a few seconds and add ground coffee and water. Heat the coffee maker over low heat until foam forms.

At the end of the process, the drink is poured into cups.

coffee set

Spiced coffee recipe

Turkish coffee can be prepared with the addition of various spices.

Ingredients:

10 g ground beans
150 ml water
10 g sugar
5 g cinnamon
5 g vanilla
1 clove bud
1 cardamom pod.

Cooking method

Warm up the cezve, pour in the prepared spicy mixture, and after a few seconds add coffee beans. Add water, cook over low heat.

silver coffee set

Recipe with red or black pepper

To enhance the effect of caffeine, add a little red or black pepper to Turkish coffee.

Ingredients:

ground grains
pepper 2g
salt 3 g
water 100 ml
butter 5 g

Cooking method

Pour a mixture of pepper and salt into the Turk, heat it, add water, add ground grains. After the first rise of foam, you need to add butter and let the drink boil again.

Recipe with orange juice

The combination of strong coffee with orange juice in the recipe gives new sensations. This is a refreshing cocktail with an unusual recipe.

Ingredients:

Finely ground grain - 1 teaspoon;
Freshly squeezed orange juice - half a glass;
Sugar to taste.

Cooking method

As you probably noticed, this is a fruit-coffee drink without water. First you need to warm up the cezve, add ground grains, add orange juice, add sugar to taste. Cook over low heat. Orange juice can be replaced with lemon juice.

coffee on the sand

Recipe with garlic and honey

Turkish coffee with garlic and honey is an unusual recipe. When preparing, it is important to correctly observe all proportions and sequence of actions.

Ingredients:

Finely ground grain - 1 teaspoon;
garlic - half 1 clove
honey - 5 g
sugar and cinnamon to taste

Cooking method

Cut the garlic into small pieces and mix with ground grains. Place the mixture in a pot and add hot water. Cook in the traditional way. Pour the finished drink into a cup, add honey, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top.

The drink cannot be stirred - everything must dissolve on its own. Garlic combined with honey makes Turkish coffee incredibly tasty and aromatic.

coffee on the sand