My aunt and uncle moved to Bosnia almost two years ago. “Why Bosnia?” you ask? My uncle has donned the humanitarian cape and is prosecuting war crimes in Sarajevo, and my aunt, the little globetrotter that she is, has been traveling around exploring all corners of Europe. Lucky her!

One of her jaunts was to Turkey, where she purchased us a beautiful Turkish coffee set. Four demitasse cups, a sugar bowl and the pot (known as a cezve) of pounded silver and ceramic with a little star and crescent. Brewing the coffee, or kahve, is an intriguing method that dates back to the 16th century. It’s surprisingly easy to make and is so rich, flavorful, and whew! strong. One cup of this and I was hopped up like a whirling dervish.

The coffee we used is a finely ground (finer than espresso) Turkish blend called Mehmet Efendi. For each serving I placed one demitasse full of fresh water and one teaspoon each of coffee and sugar into the cezve. I stirred the mixture thoroughly over low heat then waited until the coffee frothed up. Next, I poured a little foam into the cups then placed the cezve back on the heat until the coffee frothed up again. Let the dregs settle then sip and enjoy the creamy sweetness.

Brew some up for yourself and imagine sitting on an Istanbul terrace overlooking the blue of the Bosphorus Straight.

But then be prepared to clean out your garage, plant your garden, iron all your linens, wash your car and re-caulk your bathtub. You’ll certainly have the energy for it!

Check out Incasa Coffee’s history of Turkish coffee and I Need Coffee’s Turkish coffee tutorial. Here’s a short video we did of our first time using our new coffee set.

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