Good for: Going back to the roots of coffee brewing
Grind: Very fine and powder-like
Brew time: Can take around 10 minutes total
An ibrik (known in Turkey as a cezve) is an ornate little coffee pot with a long handle, the type that you might have been given by your sister that time she went to Istanbul. The coffee is boiled over a flame before being poured straight into a drinking cup. This isn’t exactly specialty coffee territory, but it makes a very distinctive brew with a history as old as coffee itself. And don’t think for a second that ibrik connoisseurs aren’t as serious as espresso or siphon coffee devotees: the World Cezve/Ibrik Championships are held annually in Europe and competition is fierce.
Traditionally, this coffee is drunk on special occasions—unsweetened for sad times, such as funerals, and with sugar for happier occasions, such as weddings. It’s also common for brewers to add a pinch of cardamom for a spicy, woody aroma. For ibrik coffee, the beans need to be pulverized until they’re superfine and powdery. Most grinders aren’t capable of that, so get your coffee as fine as possible then grind it further with a mortar and pestle
To use:
- Pour 90g (3 oz) of cold water into the ibrik.
- Add 10g (about 2 tablespoons) of superfine coffee.
- If you’re adding sugar or cardamom, do so now and stir (don’t fill the ibrik more than halfway).
- Put the ibrik over medium heat.
- When the coffee starts to boil, lower the heat and let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once the coffee has settled, turn the heat back up and repeat the previous step twice more, turning the heat down as soon as the coffee boils.
- On the third and final boil, take the ibrik off the heat.
- Slowly and gently pour the coffee into pre-warmed cups.
Arabic, Turkish, Cypriot, Greek: for the uninitiated these styles of ibrik coffee may seem exactly the same, but keep that opinion to yourself. Follow the cues your hosts give you, and no matter what you do, never ever call a Greek’s brew “Turkish coffee.”
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