by Izzet Inak

Created on: January 06, 2009

The Turks first learned about the coffee when the Ottoman Empire invaded Somalia in 17th Century. The officers of Ottoman Empire saw the local Somalian people cooking coffee on the coal fire. As they tasted the coffee, they fall in love with the taste. They decided to bring some coffee to the capital Istanbul. As some officers introduced the coffee to the local men's cafes, the coffee became a popular drink in the Ottoman Empire.

The Turkish coffee can be made from all kinds of coffee but the Arabica gives the best taste. It is essential to find a bitter tasted Arabica coffee. Tarrazu region coffee that is raised in Costa Rica has the best flavor. The beans are grinded till they are smooth as flour.

Been to the many parts of Turkey and everybody calls the Turkish coffee cooking instrument as cezve. Cezve can be found from the stores that sell Middle East stuff. There are also many sites on the internet that you can buy a cezve. We also need traditional Turkish coffee drinking cups. They are small and they have a little plate. Some say these special cups add flavor to the coffee but I couldn't taste the difference. The Turkish coffee cups are almost 150 or 175 ml.

After we get all the instruments we need, it is time to go to the kitchen and cook the delicious coffee. Don't be afraid to cook it; more you cook the coffee, more experience you will have. Take the Turkish coffee cup and fill it up with water. Pour the water into the cezve. For one cup you should put one tea spoon full of coffee in the cezve. If you are two people, then two cups full of water and two tea spoons full of coffee should be put in the cezve. You can add sugar into the cezve as much as you want. If you can cook the Turkish coffee on the coal fire, it would be more delicious but the gas stoves are good too. Since you don't own a coffee shop, it is essential to cook the coffee in low heat. The coffee shops in Turkey prepare you a coffee in 2 minutes and it tastes like plastic. Put the stove to low heat and put the cezve full of water, coffee and sugar on the stove. Stir it up for the first 20 seconds. Be sure all materials are mixed very well. After stirring up for 20 seconds, do not touch the coffee. In about 2-5 minutes, you will see the coffee foaming. As the foams reach to the half level of the cezve, pour coffee into the cup that will fill the cup 1/3. Put the cezve on stove again and wait for the coffee foam again. As the foams rise to the half of the cezve, pour more coffee in the cup that will fill up to 2/3. Put the cezve once more on the fire and as it has foams, pour the coffee into the cup. The delicious Turkish coffee is ready in your cup.

Some people put more coffee in the cezve to make more foams on the coffee but it takes away the taste of the coffee. Do not go anywhere when you are cooking your coffee, you need to see if the coffee is foaming. The Turkish coffee is strong so it is better not to drink it at night. You might have difficulties in sleeping.

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