Traditional Turkish/Greek/Cypriot coffee

Andy, Where are you located? I think that you'd be far better off looking for Greek/Turkish/Cypriot shop locally than buying from eBay. I have never had a good experience buying coffee from the bay!

Alternatively, I think that the Algerian Coffee Stores in Soho used to do Turkish coffee by mail-order. I have also heard good things about this place: Marke Turk but never shopped there myself.

I'm lucky, I am just a few miles from North London which has a massive Turkish and Cypriot community so I can get my supplies almost anytime ....

David
 
I like just outside Glasgow David. I genuinely can't think of anywhere I've seen this locally even with the amount of Scottish Ex-Pats that move to Cyprus.
 
andyjreid said:
I like just outside Glasgow David. I genuinely can't think of anywhere I've seen this locally even with the amount of Scottish Ex-Pats that move to Cyprus.
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I've just added a link to my post above with a place that I know that my brother uses!

David
 
andyjreid said:
My ibrik holds 2 of these cups in the picture which is about 3 - 4 traditional demitasse so I'm going with 3 - 4 teaspoons of coffee into warm water and letting it "melt" into the ibrik. I was much better using the gas to have proper control over the heat which I think saved some of the bitterness.

I was planning to place an order for some of the Cypriot brands of coffee as I remember trying them when over there a few years back. The one that sticks in my mind is Laiko(?) Gold.

There is an ebay store selling 200g back of Cyrpiot coffee for between £3.00 - £3.50 (depending on which brand) however they charge £3.50 per bag to post to the UK and they won't combine postage (I've asked).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261162018740&category=14309&var=&emailtemplateid=53427296&sellerid=OF5sKOndb37kkcO01+RebA==&buyerid=eJGfcJBwsRIC3KdWEUPL1A==&refid=store&ssPageName=ADME:B:SEMK:UK:LISTG
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If you have an embedded image in this post, it won't display it as I'm at work so will see it later on tonight...

"Laiko" is the "people's coffee" brand, owned by the far left communist party (believe it or not!). It's probably the most popular one to get hold of. I may have some of that lying around if you really want some... I'll check what I have later and will let you know if you'd like a pack (depending on what we can spare).

Looks like you can get all sorts of brands from that link. Agree though that at 3.50 postage for EACH one is a rip-off!!!
 
David thanks for putting the link into there.

rum the only image I embedded was the picture of my cup this morning. I know that place is expensive for postage but altogether it's no more than I've paid for some other coffee here in the UK. I think I'll probably try the brand you have recommended also.
 
For a cup like the one in picture you need two full tea spoon of coffee. After thirty seconds you need a good stear untill everything is melted. Let it boil and rise to the top of the ibrik and its ready to enjoy. As simple as that. Do not let rise and take it off, put it back on untill it rise again. This will spoil the "cream".
 
andyjreid said:
David thanks for putting the link into there.

rum the only image I embedded was the picture of my cup this morning. I know that place is expensive for postage but altogether it's no more than I've paid for some other coffee here in the UK. I think I'll probably try the brand you have recommended also.
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OK, re the image.

Yes, Charalambous coffee is better suited to UK water, from what many friends of mine say. Laiko is good as well though. I can't fault either.

<SIGH> if only I could have a gas fire at work, I'd be sipping coffee now. Stupid health and safety rules!!! :dodgy:
 
Making a proper cup of Greek/Turkish coffee is indeed an art. You need to follow some simple guidelines to achieve the best taste and consistency, but most people before me have described more or less the proper procedure.
Some pointers from me:
- Start with cold water and add coffee and sugar
- Use as low heat as you can. This is the most important aspect.
- Stir a couple of times when the water is hot and coffee/sugar are diluted
- Let rise, take off the stove and serve.

In the past, the person preparing the coffee (ταμπής in Greek or yedek in Turkish) used to make the coffee on stoves full of sand, where the ibrik was half submerged in the hot sand.

Do not let it rise, lift ibrik and put it on the stove again! If you do this, it will get watery!

PS. If you would like some Greek coffee, PM me your address and I can PIF you some.
 
dimitris said:
In the past, the person preparing the coffee (ταμπής in Greek or yedek in Turkish) used to make the coffee on stoves full of sand, where the ibrik was half submerged in the hot sand.
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Not only in the past!! I've done it myself with a steel ibrik using the coal left over from the Easter Sunday barbecue!!
 
I have come to the conclusion that it must be the brand of coffee which is giving it the bitter taste. Brewing is almost perfect and I can't see any reason for my coffee to get bitter.
 
It's probably due to the fact that Turkish coffee - delicious as it may be - is a much darker roast than say, Greek or Cypriot coffee.

The Arabic and Israeli coffee that I've tried is also a dark roast.
 
I am fortunate enough to have an excellent Middle Eastern grocer near me where I buy my Mehmet Efendi coffe as well as loose green tea.
However, not being as fastidious as the other contributors to this thread, I make my coffee in an Italian moka pot (Bialetti) and then add a spot of honey for a lovely cup of coffee.
 
Well I've now tried some Greek coffee as forwarded to me by Dimitris I can say that this is more what I was expecting and can turn blame for bitterness away from my brewing technique.

The bitterness must just be a part of the flavour of the Turkish brand I was using. The Greek one is much smoother and easier on the pallette.
 
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