Interpretation of Fortune-Telling Patterns in Turkish Coffee How to Brew Turkish Coffee and Why It's Not Filtered

Walking along the romantic streets of Turkey, you'll find many street vendors selling a peculiar type of coffee. The coffee pot is placed in hot sand to brew. Whenever the coffee pot overflows, the vendor pours some of the coffee from the pot into a cup, then continues heating the pot. Afterward, the coffee pot overflows again, and the vendor pours out another portion, repeating this process several times in quite an interesting manner! This is the famous Turkish coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee offers a little scientific explanation here: Turkish coffee doesn't actually refer to coffee from modern Turkey, but rather coffee from the former Ottoman Empire. Before the Turks, Arabs in the Middle East region were already using a large pot called "Dallah" with a spout resembling a toucan's large beak to brew extremely lightly roasted, or even possibly unroasted, raw coffee beans. The Turks improved upon the Arabian pot by using a small, long-handled pot called "Cezve" (known as "Ibrik" in Greek), consistently tossing water and coffee into the pot to brew over charcoal fire, which gradually evolved into today's Turkish coffee.

The Spread of Turkish Coffee Culture

With the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish coffee also spread as a cultural export throughout the empire and to various European countries. For example, what we now call Greek coffee and Armenian coffee actually share the same origins as Turkish coffee. Sometimes, Turkish coffee is also referred to as Arabic coffee.

The Principle of Brewing Coffee in a Turkish Pot

The equipment used for brewing Turkish coffee is a Turkish pot called a "Cezve." This pot is typically made of brass and is characterized by a long handle connected to a cylindrical container with a narrowed opening. Even today, high-quality Turkish pots are entirely handmade. The copper pot thickness is 1-1.5mm, ensuring both hardness and proper heat distribution.

In today's era of popular coffee brewing methods, Turkish coffee stands out as one of the few methods that uses a "boiling" form to "extract" coffee. The biggest difference between Turkish coffee and commonly used brewing methods today is that most modern methods filter out the coffee grounds to produce a clean cup of coffee, while Turkish coffee is consumed with both grounds and liquid together.

Currently, Turkish coffee typically uses coffee beans from Brazil, which is one reason why Turkish coffee flavor might not be considered exceptional. However, some coffee shops now use high-quality single-origin Arabica coffee beans to make Turkish coffee.

The coffee grind used for Turkish coffee is as fine as flour, even finer than the grind used for espresso. The traditional heat source is sand heated to 200°C, but nowadays, gas stoves, charcoal stoves, and other heat sources are also used.

Brewing Method

First, using a single-serving Turkish pot, add 12 grams of extremely finely ground coffee powder, then add 120-180 grams of cold water (depending on your tasting cup size). Then bury it in the heated sand furnace (other heat sources provide bottom heating), with the sand wrapping around the entire pot body, making the heat distribution inside the pot more even.

The traditional brewing method involves "three boils," meaning that during heating, after about 5-7 minutes, when the coffee reaches its boiling point and shows a tendency to expand and erupt, remove the Turkish pot from the heat source, then put it back to continue heating. Repeat this process twice, and on the third boil, pour the coffee into the cup.

Some methods involve first pouring about one-third of the coffee into each cup, then returning the remaining coffee to the fire to continue boiling until it bubbles again, before distributing it sequentially into the previous cups.

Coffee Ground Divination Interpretation

Drinking Turkish coffee has also led to interesting cultural practices, the most widespread of which is coffee ground divination. After finishing the coffee, first place the saucer over the coffee cup, then flip it over. Once the coffee grounds have solidified, you can interpret fortune from the patterns. Of course, this has become part of Turkish coffee culture as entertainment (not superstition).

Moon Phase Patterns

Full Moon: Indicates an extremely lucky day, where the goddess of fortune will steadfastly stand by your side. Whatever you do, as long as you work hard at it, you will certainly succeed.

Half Moon: Today will be a smooth day where you can cooperate well with others and complete work entirely according to plan. If you seize opportunities today, you might also make a small fortune.

Crescent Moon: Some minor setbacks will appear in your work and life. As long as you adjust your mood and let go of unpleasant matters, you can still achieve your goals.

New Moon: An extremely unfavorable day where everything requires caution. Remember to remain calm when facing situations to avoid impulsive mistakes that could lead to uncontrollable consequences. Approach everything with a normal mindset; patience and humility can ensure no problems occur.

Other Types: Nothing has any signs, and heaven knows what will happen. In short, this day will be thrilling and exciting, but as long as you maintain a normal mindset, no bad things will happen.

Other Pattern Interpretations

Four-legged animals or trees: Usually represent success, such as promotions at work, successful examinations, and gaining fame or status.

Heart shape: Usually indicates the arrival of love. If there's a heart in the cup and you're single, it means love is coming. If you already have a partner, it means they will love you wholeheartedly. If there are two hearts in the cup, it indicates mutual understanding, and if accompanied by a ring shape, it suggests a high possibility of marriage between the two.

Ring: Usually represents engagement, or within the next three months, someone around you might hold a wedding.

Numbers or dates: Usually related to months or dates. If a number has special significance to you personally, pay special attention. For example, if 8 appears and the 8th of this month has already passed, and it's currently May, this likely refers to August.

English letters: Usually represent someone's surname. For example, C might represent "Zhang" or "Zheng," while K could represent the surname "Jin."

Birds or bird-like objects: Usually indicate some unexpected surprises or possibly good news. If it's a bird spreading its wings to fly high, it means something surprising will happen soon, or surprises will come quickly.

Empty rectangle: Usually indicates the arrival of wealth. The larger the rectangle, the greater the wealth. Therefore, you can buy lottery tickets recently or pay attention to uniform invoices. As for whether you can keep this wealth, it depends on the moment you open the cup and saucer - the degree of sticking between them; the tighter they stick, the less likely wealth will leak away.

Snake-like shape: Usually represents some bad things, especially around you. There might be some petty people appearing, or you might be plotted against by others. In any case, it's best not to have direct conflicts with others. If it's in an S shape, it might also be related to surnames, such as "Xie" or "Xu."

Tubular shape: If a tubular shape appears on the coffee cup wall, it usually represents travel or upcoming matters related to migration. The longer the tube shape, the farther you'll go. If it's a tube with a closed end, it indicates the journey is hindered and not easy to accomplish.

Eye: Usually indicates being envied by others. The more eyes that appear, the more serious the situation. Pay more attention to your words and actions.

Circles, straight lines, triangles: Circles usually represent some good things, such as success; straight lines indicate smooth progress; triangles also represent success, but mostly related to the entertainment industry, media industry, and art world.

Stars or constellation-related patterns: If star shapes appear, they usually indicate dreams or wishes coming true. If constellation symbols or patterns appear, they indicate the nature of certain matters. For example, Aries represents acting too impulsively, while Libra might be related to love.

Unicorn appearance: A unicorn usually represents someone's secret fantasies. If a unicorn pattern appears, it typically indicates secrets in one's heart that others don't know about, such as extramarital affairs or triangular relationships.

If coffee grounds on the cup wall don't disperse: This indicates the person seeking divination is under considerable pressure. If there are some gaps with the cup wall, it means there's still room for relief. If there are no gaps, it indicates the person seeking divination needs to find someone to talk to and try to express the pressure in their heart.

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