Why Isn't Turkish Coffee Filtered? Understanding Its Extraction Method and Unique Flavor Characteristics

Turkish coffee has become popular in many social circles due to its exotic brewing style and fortune-telling abilities after drinking. However, in today's era of pursuing coffee flavor and texture, the "drink it all, grounds and all" approach of Turkish coffee still makes many people hesitant.

The Origins and Cultural Significance

The origins of Turkish coffee date back to the sixteenth century when the Ottoman Empire conquered Yemen, bringing coffee to the imperial capital of Constantinople. Turks then developed the habit of drinking coffee. Today, coffee has become an indispensable part of Turkish culture, with important traditional ceremonies involving coffee. The World Barista Championship (WBC) also hosts a World Turkish Coffee Championship annually, earning a place for traditional Turkish coffee culture within the coffee community.

Brewing Method and Unique Characteristics

To make the coffee taste richer, locals used stone mills to grind coffee beans into a powder as fine as flour, then boiled this fine powder with water for consumption. They unexpectedly discovered that this significantly improved the texture. Later, this drinking method gradually spread throughout Turkey. Since the grounds are not filtered when tasting, it gave rise to one of Turkish coffee's unique features - fortune-telling through the coffee grounds left at the bottom of the cup.

Traditional Turkish coffee preparation in Turkish streets uses not open flames as heat source, but a large basin of hot sand. Additionally, a miniature copper pot called "Cezve" is used, typically made of brass with a relatively heavy feel. The pot features a long handle connected to a narrow-mouthed cylindrical container. The copper pot thickness is 1-1.5mm, ensuring both hardness and even heat conduction.

The Brewing Process

First, water and coffee powder are poured into the pot and stirred. Then the copper pot is buried in the sand tray, where fine sand has been preheated. When the copper pot stays in the same position, its heat conduction ability gradually decreases. The more the pot is moved, the higher the extraction efficiency, and the shorter the time required. The coffee slurry inside is boiled until it reaches a rolling boil, and some is poured into the cup before it overflows. Then continue heating, repeating this process three times to obtain a cup of thick black coffee.

Tasting Experience and Texture

Freshly made Turkish coffee has a layer of caramel-colored foam. At this point, the liquid is extremely hot, and large amounts of fine powder float in the coffee, making it unsuitable for direct consumption. Through resting, the coffee grounds naturally settle, and after the temperature slightly decreases, you can take generous sips, experiencing the rich coffee flavor and the grainy texture. When the extremely strong coffee is finished drinking, a layer of thick, fine, and soft coffee residue is revealed at the bottom of the cup.

The Extraordinary Fineness of Turkish Coffee Grind

How fine is Turkish coffee grind exactly? Among numerous brewing methods, Turkish coffee has the finest grind size, also called ultra-fine grind. Visually, people might think ultra-fine grind is the same as espresso grind. If you gently rub it with your fingers, you can feel that espresso grind still has some graininess, like powdered sugar. Turkish grind, however, has completely powdered, with each particle around 100-150 microns, where an average coffee bean can be broken down into 15,000-35,000 particles.

The Science Behind the Texture

Thanks to such fine grinding, not only are coffee flavors extracted, but it also adds considerable thickness to Turkish coffee's texture. If we were to filter the coffee grounds, the liquid would become clear, losing the "grainy texture," and it would no longer be traditional Turkish coffee.

Grind Size and Extraction Control

The grind size of coffee beans has a significant impact on brewing extraction. Ultra-fine grinding more easily leads to over-extraction during brewing. Turkish pursuit of bitter, rich coffee taste means that after boiling three times, what's often produced is over-extracted coffee. In the Turkish Coffee Championship, which emphasizes specialty coffee flavors, baristas develop extraction plans based on their selected beans. They influence the coffee's flavor direction by adjusting factors such as coffee-to-water ratio, stirring frequency, and heating time.

Professional Coffee Resources

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