In Turkey, your coffee comes with a side of destiny

[IronLionZion]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/26/travel/turkey-coffee-istanbul-ottoman-empire

Calling Turkish coffee “just a drink” undersells it. It’s a ritual, a conversation and, as arguably the ancestor of all modern coffees, it’s a nearly 500-year-old piece of history, inscribed by UNESCO on its intangible cultural heritage of humanity list.

Coffee’s roots go back even further. Lani Kingston, adjunct professor at Portland State University, says a single coffee bean dating from the 12th century has been found at an archaeological site in the United Arab Emirates. By 1350, coffee-serving paraphernalia appeared in Turkey, Egypt and Persia.

The story of Turkish coffee begins not in Turkey, but in Yemen. In the 15th century, Sufi mystics are said to have consumed it to stay awake during long nights of prayer and devotions. When Sultan Süleyman, known in Europe as Süleyman the Magnificent, seized Yemen in 1538, coffee made its way into the Ottoman Empire. Within a year, the beans had reached Constantinople — the ancient city that is now Istanbul.

In 1539, the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa registered a property that included a “kahve odası,” or coffee room, according to Cemal Kafadar, Harvard professor and author of an academic paper about coffee: “How Dark is the History of the Night, How Black the Story of Coffee, How Bitter the Tale of Love: The Changing Measure of Leisure and Pleasure in Early Modern Istanbul.”

By the 1550s, the first “kahvehanes,” or coffeehouses were appearing in İstanbul, chronicled by historian İbrahim Peçevi in his book, “History of Peçevi.” The beverage’s new popularity quickly reshaped cultural life. The Ottoman cezve-ibrik method of preparing coffee — shared with Greece and rooted in Ethiopia — became the hallmark of traditional Turkish coffee. As gastronomy researcher Merin Sever explains, the fundamental difference between Turkish and other coffees is that cezve-ibrik is essentially cooking; it’s not brewed, but “cooked” in water like a soup, producing an unfiltered drink.

Photos and video at link

It's interesting seeing how they make it. I got into Turkish coffee recently. I like the simplicity of it in the small pot with finely ground coffee, but there is skill involved to make it taste good. Most of the Middle East and Eastern Europe make coffee this way traditionally. It's also great for people who like to add sugar and spices (pumpkin spice!) to coffee while brewing.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. The Greek island of Ikaria is known for the longest life spans in the world

Various studies attribute this to olive oil, or their method of making coffee - they boil it which is said to increase beneficial compounds that support brain health.

[IronLionZion]

2. Boiling coffee over a campfire was common for American cowboys back in the day

A hot rolling boil burns off the acid.

I saw this when I googled

Greek coffee is lightly roasted, finely ground, almost powdery. It is prepared by boiling, usually with a little sugar, in a tapered small pot called a briki. Boiling helps extract more of the healthy compounds, such as polyphenols and antioxidants, than are found in, say, brewed coffee.
https://www.dianekochilas.com/greek-coffee-ikaria-heart-disease-and-longevity/

[bucolic_frolic]

3. I'm going to do some experimenting - grinding coffee to a powder

and try to make it low acid -- by cold brew and by boiling. But palatability will win the day.

[Kali]

4. boiling on stove is how my Grandmother made it for my cowboy Grampa

half cup of cold water to settle the grounds.

[IronLionZion]

5. I enjoyed this guy's videos on cowboy coffee and other cowboy style outdoor cooking

How to Make Cowboy Coffee

&t=37s

[Kali]

6. yeah I still have 2 or 3 of those big enamel coffee pots

we sometimes use them outdoors for group events. ha actually I have a cezve around here somewhere that has never been used. when I was in Turkey I preferred tea.

[IronLionZion]

7. They're sold online on sites like Amazon. I got a Cezve for Turkish coffee

Tea is delightful. I like loose leaf sometimes and have a brewer with filter for that.

[Kali]

8. I went a little nuts and bought tea glasses, saucers, and small spoons

and a double tea kettle after I got back but of course rarely used them. and sugar cubes, LOL