Coffee Drink
Turkish Coffee: Recipe, Caffeine and How to Drink It
Turkish coffee is unfiltered coffee made by slowly heating powder-fine grounds, water and optional sugar in a small pot called a cezve. The grounds go into the cup, where they settle. Sip the liquid slowly and leave the dense sediment behind; the surface foam is not espresso crema.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- About 60 mg referenceMehmet Efendi reference: 65 ml (2.2 US fl oz) cupA published producer reference, not a measurement of this 7 g recipe.
- Calories
- About 1 kcal estimatePlain coffee; no sugar or accompanying sweetsGeneric brewed-black-coffee proxy for a small cup, not a laboratory analysis of unfiltered Turkish coffee.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- 1 small cup; brewed with 7 g coffee and 70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) water
- Made with
- Powder-fine coffee and water; served unfiltered
- Sugar
- 0 g added if sade. Optional 1, 2 or 4 g sugar adds about 4, 8 or 15 kcal, respectively.
- Preparation
- About 5 minutes, including settling
Water input is not finished liquid yield. Optional sugar is added before heating. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- 1For one home cup, start with 7 g powder-fine coffee and 70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) water. Add any sugar before heating.
- 2Lift the cezve as the foam rises, pour gently, then wait about one minute before sipping.
- 3A producer reference lists 60 mg caffeine per 65 ml (2.2 US fl oz) cup. The main caffeine section explains that producer reference.
On This Page10 Sections
Turkish Coffee Recipe
Recipe
Turkish coffee in a cezve
- Makes:
- 1 small cup; made with 70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) water
- Time:
- About 5 minutes, including 1 minute to settle
Ingredients
- 7 g coffee, ground powder-fine for Turkish coffee
- 70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) cold drinking water
- Optional granulated sugar: 1 g (¼ US tsp) lightly sweet, 2 g (½ US tsp) medium or 4 g (1 US tsp) sweeter
Equipment
- Small cezve and low, controllable heat
- Scale, water measure and small cup
Method
- Mix. Put the coffee, water and any sugar in a small cezve with room for rising foam. Stir until evenly wetted.
- Heat. Set over low heat and watch continuously. When the foam begins to rise, lift the pot before a rolling boil or overflow.
- Pour. Spoon a little foam into the cup. Briefly heat the pot until the foam rises once more, lift it off and pour slowly.
- Settle and sip. Wait about one minute for the grounds to settle. Serve with water if desired, sip gently and leave the dense sediment behind.
Recipe notes
70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) is water input, not finished liquid yield. This is one home method; the number of foam rises varies.
Add your chosen sugar before heating; leave settled grounds in the cup.
Makes one small cup in about five minutes, including settling. The starting ratio is 7 g coffee to 70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) water, approximately 1:10 by weight. Water input is not the final liquid yield: some evaporates, and some stays with the sediment.
Use a small cezve, low controllable heat and a 90 ml (3 US fl oz) cup. Leave space below the rim. Coffee specifically ground for Turkish brewing is a practical choice. Ordinary espresso grind is generally too coarse for this powder-fine preparation.
Mehmet Efendi's preparation guide uses 6 g coffee per cup and demonstrates a related slow-heated, foam-first method.
For more detail on pot size, grinders and heat control, see the Turkish coffee brewing guide.
Turkish Coffee Sweetness and Ordering
Choose sweetness before brewing. These ordering terms are useful, but they do not prescribe standard gram amounts:
Swipe to see all columnsScroll to see all columns
| Order | Meaning | Starting sugar for this cup | Calories added by sugar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sade | Unsweetened | 0 g | 0 kcal |
| Az şekerli | Lightly sweet | 1 g | About 4 kcal |
| Orta | Medium sweetness | 2 g | About 8 kcal |
| Şekerli | Sweet | 4 g | About 15 kcal |
The gram amounts are our home suggestions. Çok şekerli means very sweet. Prepare separate pots for guests wanting different sweetness levels.
I settle the sugar before the cezve goes on the heat. If I'm adjusting the sweetness, I use a clear amount and change the next brew, rather than stir the finished cup and bring the grounds back up.
How to Drink and Serve Turkish Coffee
I give Turkish coffee a quiet moment before the first sip. A small cup can last me a while, especially when there's someone to talk to. I leave the dense sediment behind instead of trying to finish it at espresso pace.
Keep the cup still rather than repeatedly stirring or swirling it; the fine grounds need time to settle.
Water is a customary accompaniment; take a sip before the coffee if you like. Turkish delight can provide sweetness alongside an unsweetened cup, but it is optional and separate from the recipe's nutrition.
The small cup is a fincan. The brewing pot is commonly called a cezve; equipment sellers may also use ibrik. The hot sand in the hero image surrounds and heats the pot. Sand is not an ingredient or a requirement: controlled stovetop heat works at home.
How Turkish Coffee Tastes
Fine particles remaining in the cup give Turkish coffee a different texture from paper-filtered coffee. The beans and roast determine whether its flavor leans toward cocoa, nuts, roastiness or brighter notes. Sugar changes that balance; cardamom adds its own aroma when included.
The surface foam is köpük, not espresso crema. A cezve does not brew under espresso-machine pressure. A thick foam cap is not a guarantee of good flavor, and burnt bitterness is not a requirement.
Turkish Coffee Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to adjust |
|---|---|
| Foam races up or spills | Lower the heat, leave more pot headroom and lift it promptly |
| Little foam | Check freshness and powder-fine grind; avoid vigorous boiling and rough pouring |
| Harsh or burnt taste | Reduce heating intensity and repeated rises; consider a less roasty coffee |
| Grit in every sip | Allow more settling time, keep the cup still and stop before the sediment |
| Too sweet | Reduce sugar in the next pot; stirring the finished cup lifts grounds |
Without a cezve: a small saucepan can heat the ingredients, although controlling the rise and pouring from a wide rim are harder. With an automatic Turkish coffee maker, follow its fill limits and operating instructions; stovetop timing does not transfer directly.
Making Two Cups Without Confusing Dose and Yield
Double the inputs to 14 g coffee and 140 ml (4.7 US fl oz) water, and double only the sugar level both drinkers want. Use a suitably larger cezve with headroom. Heating time does not necessarily double: watch the rise.
Turkish Coffee Caffeine, Calories and Sugar
Mehmet Efendi lists 60 mg caffeine for a 65 ml (2.2 US fl oz) Turkish coffee. That is a useful published producer reference; it is not a measurement of our 7 g recipe. Do not calculate this recipe's caffeine by scaling that figure to 70 ml (2.4 US fl oz) of starting water.
Plain coffee’s about 1 kcal per small cup is a rough proxy from USDA generic brewed coffee, not a measurement of unfiltered Turkish coffee. Sade has no added sugar; count sweetened packets, milk and accompanying sweets separately.
Each gram of added sugar contributes about 4 kcal. The sweetness table above shows the additions for this recipe.
Calorie calculation and sources
USDA generic brewed coffee supplies 1 kcal per 100 g, used here only as a rough plain-coffee proxy. Granulated sugar supplies 387 kcal per 100 g: 1 g × 3.87 = 3.87 kcal, rounded to 4. The 2 g and 4 g sugar options add about 8 and 15 kcal, respectively. See the USDA coffee and sugar records.
History and Culture
Turkish coffee is part of Ottoman coffeehouse history and a living tradition of conversation, hospitality and shared occasions. UNESCO's 2013 inscription decision recognizes the cultural practice, including the transmission of preparation skills, rather than a single mandatory recipe.
Reading the patterns in leftover grounds is a social or fortune-telling custom. It is not needed to prepare or enjoy the coffee.
Turkish Coffee vs. Espresso and Greek Coffee
For a separately named spiced preparation, see Moroccan spiced coffee, or café beldi.
| Drink | Preparation and service distinction |
|---|---|
| Turkish coffee | Powder-fine grounds heated with water in a cezve; sediment reaches the cup |
| Espresso | Pressure extraction; the coffee bed stays in the portafilter |
| Greek coffee | A closely related fine-ground, small-pot tradition with its own service and naming |
| Mırra | A separate regional coffee involving repeated brewing and concentration, served in very small pours |
| Arabic coffee | A broader family of preparations and hospitality traditions; Gulf-style service often uses a dallah and repeated small pours |
Cup size, roast darkness and concentrated taste do not establish which drink contains more caffeine. Compare a defined serving and its measured or published value.
Cardamom or mastic can flavor variations, but neither is required in plain Turkish coffee. Check the ingredients of a packaged blend instead of assuming that every small, dark cup contains spices.
Common Questions
Do you drink the grounds in Turkish coffee?
Is Turkish coffee stronger than espresso?
Does Turkish coffee need special beans?
Does Turkish coffee contain cardamom or milk?
Can you make Turkish coffee without sand?
Is Turkish coffee caffeine-free?
Editor's Take
Sources and Further Reading
5 references
External links open in a new tab
Preparation and tradition
Nutrition references
- Kurukahveci Mehmet EfendiTurkish coffee caffeine referenceProducer-published caffeine: 60 mg per 65 ml cup.(opens in a new tab)
- USDA FoodData CentralBrewed black coffeeSR Legacy record 171890: 1 kcal per 100 g, used only as a plain-coffee proxy.(opens in a new tab)
- USDA FoodData CentralGranulated sugarSR Legacy record 169655: 387 kcal per 100 g for the added-sugar arithmetic.(opens in a new tab)