Türk Kahvesi (Turkish Coffee)

Measure the water using the small cups you'll serve in — one cup of cold water per person — and pour it into a cezve or the smallest pan you have.

For each cup, add a heaped teaspoon of the very fine coffee.

Add sugar now if you want it, and a cracked cardamom pod if using.

Stir once to wet the coffee, then stop stirring.

Set the cezve over low heat — low and slow is everything here.

Let it heat gently without stirring; after a few minutes a dark foam starts to build and rise.

Just before it climbs to the rim and boils over, lift the cezve off the heat.

💡 Never let it boil hard — a rolling boil kills the prized foam and leaves the coffee flat.

Spoon a little of the foam into each cup — the foam, köpük, is prized, so share it out.

Return the pot to the heat and let it rise a second time, then pour it slowly into the cups, foam and all.

Let the cups stand a minute so the grounds settle to the bottom — Turkish coffee is never filtered.

Serve with a glass of water and something sweet like lokum (Turkish delight), and don't drink the muddy last sip.