Black as the night, hot as hell and sweet as love... if you describe a Turkish coffee that way, then it is just right.
As a small counterpart to our contribution about Turkish tea, here's something for coffee lovers:
Turkish coffee, also called mocha, is the oldest known way of making coffee and has been part of the immaterial UNESCO World Cultural Heritage since 2013.
The coffee is traditionally prepared in a copper or brass pot (see photo). It is boiled up twice, forming foam the first time, which should almost boil over. It is important not to stir the coffee again after the second boil, so that the coffee grounds do not spread but can settle (a small shot of water also helps). A characteristic feature of Turkish coffee is that the coffee grounds are poured into the cup.
Due to the fact, that water and coffee grounds are boiled together and coffee grounds are still contained as suspended particles, Turkish coffee contains more caffeine than regular coffee. A small cup of 50 ml Turkish coffee contains approx. 130 mg caffeine. In contrast, 125 ml normal filter coffee contains only 80 to 120 mg.
So if you need a stronger caffeine kick, you better get some Turkish coffee.
After drinking, don't forget to read your coffee grounds. Coffee grounds reading (turkish = “fal bakmak”) is not so unusual in Turkey, because the mocha is very suitable because of the many remaining coffee grounds. Currently, we also have a Turkish coffee machine in our office, so from now on we can welcome you to a Turkish tea and a mocha.
So: come over and have turkish coffee with us!