How can I make Turkish and Greek coffee without a cezve or briki?
If you do not have a cezve or briki, you can use a small thin pot preferably with a pouring lip to make Turkish & Greek coffee.
Is there an easier way to make Turkish and Greek coffee?
Besides the traditional way, there are also electric coffee pots and automatic coffee makers to make Turkish & Greek coffee. Electric coffee pots shorten the brewing time but needs to be followed to avoid overflowing. However, automatic coffee makers do not need any following and mostly make sound when the brewing process is finished.
How big is the cup used to serve Turkish and Greek coffee?
Turkish & Greek coffee cups hold 2-2.5 fl.oz. (60-75 ml) of coffee. They are a little bit smaller than espresso cups.
Turkish & Greek Coffee Recipe
Turkish & Greek coffee are made by the oldest coffee making method in the world. In fact it was the only method until the 1800s. Let’s go deep into it!
Tags: Turkish & Greek coffee

Turkish & Greek coffee are made by heating up extremely fine ground coffee in cold water on a direct heat source. This heat source can be embers, stove or sand. This method to make coffee is not easy in today’s hectic lives but it produces the richest coffee enjoyment. The recipe below describes the traditional method to brew Turkish & Greek coffee but there are also some automatic machines that have been recently developed to brew Turkish & Greek coffee. The video below shows one of them and the resulting coffee brewed in these machines perfectly reflects the traditional taste and texture.
The method this recipe describes was the only coffee making method until the 1800s when some other methods and devices were developed to brew coffee and French press, pour over, espresso etc. came into sight.
The method used to make Turkish & Greek coffee is believed to be invented in Ethiopia in the 1300s. From Ethiopia, it moved first to Yemen and then to İstanbul in the 1500s. First coffee houses were opened in İstanbul and in other cities on Ottoman lands starting from the late 1500s.
Looking at its origin it should have been called Ethiopian coffee but it was called Turkish coffee and was known as such until the late 1900s probably because it spread to Europe from the Ottoman Empire. Starting from the late 1900s, every region has called the coffee in their culture with their own national name. While it is still called Turkish coffee in Turkey, it has become Greek coffee in Greece, Armenian coffee in Armenia, Serbian coffee in Serbia, Bosnian coffee in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cypriot coffee in Cyprus and Arabic coffee in Egypt and Levant countries.
All these coffees mentioned above are originally made by the same method that this recipe describes. Having said that, we should also mention there might be some minor differences added later on to the original recipe in different regions, such as adding sugar after brewing etc.
Let’s move on to the Turkish & Greek coffee recipe to fill the house with coffee smell and enjoy the thickest coffee texture and richest flavor!
Ingredients
10 fl.oz. cold filtered water
8 teaspoons of extremely fine ground coffee
Cezve or briki, a coffee pot with long handle and truncated conical shape
Some sugar (optional)
Directions
Add ground coffee into the coffee pot cezve or briki.
Add sugar at this step if all 4 cups will be sugary. You should add 1 teaspoon of sugar per cup for a little sugary taste, 2 teaspoons per cup for a bit more sugary taste, and 3-4 teaspoons per cup for a complete sweet taste.
If not all 4 cups will be sugary or on the same level of sweetness, do not add sugar at this point.
Add water to the coffee and gently stir them until combined.
Turn on the stove at low heat. If you are in a hurry, you can also make it on medium heat but low heat is better.
Place the cezve, briki on the stove and wait until foam develops and rises to the rim. This will take 4-6 minutes but you should not leave it alone on the stove to avoid any overflowing.
When foam forms and rises, take the cezve, briki from the stove and divide the foam among the cups by skimming it off using a teaspoon.
Then put the cezve, briki back on the stove and wait for the second rise.
Take the cezve, briki from the stove and slowly pour the coffee over the foams in the cups. Try not to lose foams since it is important to serve Turkish & Greek coffee with a thick foam.
Serve the coffee along with a glass of cold water.
Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
HOW TO SERVE TURKISH & GREEK COFFEE:
It is customary to serve Turkish & Greek coffee along with a glass of cold water to clean the palate before drinking coffee for the best enjoyment. Additionally, especially when the coffee is made without sugar, it is also common to serve a small dessert with it such as a Turkish delight, a piece of chocolate, a sweet cookie or biscuit.
HOW TO DRINK TURKISH & GREEK COFFEE:
Turkish & Greek coffee is hotter than other types of coffee such as French press, pour over and espresso. So, it would be better to wait for some time before drinking it. It should also be sipped slowly to feel the full flavor and texture. The coffee grounds compiled at the bottom of the cup are not to drink or eat.
