Of the many way there are to prepare coffee, one of my favourites is Turkish Coffee. Prepared on a stovetop, this full bodied, flavourful coffee warms you up and wakes you up!

This is what you need

You’ll need:

• dark roast coffee beans
• grinder
• small pot
• cardamom (optional, often used during Ramadan)

If adding cardamom, you’ll need to shell the pods

The grinder you see above actually belonged to Claire’s great grandparents! It’s from circa 1915 in Syria. This grinder as gone from Syria to Lebanon to England to Hamilton, Ontario and now resides in Montreal, Quebec!

Her grandmother told stories about how her and her brothers would have to sit and take turns grinding coffee when guests were coming over!

Okay, you’re probably looking at these photos and saying “I don’t have a grinder like that!”.  You just need beans ground at the finest setting (most grinders have a ‘turkish’ setting). It is almost a powder when ground.

Add beans to grinder … You can also add the cardamom at this point if you wish. (make sure you have removed the outer shell!)

Grind, grind, grind!

Pour grinds into pot. Now, add the water. You’ll want to make enough for a few cups, but remember that Turkish Coffee is served in small cups (you aren’t going to have a Grande Turkish Coffee … well, not if you want to sleep anytime in the next week!)

If you are using pre-ground coffee, you can add ground cardamom at this point to your grounds.

Bring pot to just under a boil on your stovetop.

Watch closely or pot will boil over! You want to make sure to keep it from boiling so you don’t ‘break the crema’ on top.

Pour a little into each cup and return it to the stove, repeating the step above. Continue this until the cups are full. Your kitchen should smell like coffee by now!

I don’t tend to add anything to Turkish Coffee, but you always can add sugar or cream (add before you pour the coffee). The cardamom will act as a natural sweetener.

Serve with lovely treats. Again, we got these lovely treats at Adonis Market in Montreal.

There you have it, Turkish Coffee!

Bon apetit!