KitchenEvery day
Armenian coffee
Coffee ground as fine as flour, boiled with sugar in a small pot until it foams, poured with the grounds into small cups.
The first question is always "sweet, medium or plain?" because the sugar goes in the pot, not the cup. The second is whether you got enough foam; a cup without it is a little embarrassing.
Drink it slowly and stop before the grounds. Then, if there's an aunt in the room, turn the cup over.
Ingredients
Amounts in the steps are for 2 servings.
Tools
- Small long-handled coffee pot (jezve)
- Small coffee cups
Steps
Put the cold water and sugar in a small long-handled coffee pot and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Add the coffee (and cardamom, if using) and stir once so it sinks. Don't stir again.
Heat over low heat and watch it. When the foam starts to rise toward the rim, take it off the heat before it boils over.
Spoon a little foam into each cup, put the pot back on the heat until it rises once more, then pour slowly into the cups.
Let it sit a minute so the grounds settle, then serve with a glass of water.
Good to know
- The grind
- It has to be powder-fine. Buy coffee labeled Armenian, Turkish or Greek coffee, or ask for the finest grind.
- Foam
- Low heat and patience. If it boils hard, the foam collapses.
- The cup reading
- Turn the finished cup over onto its saucer, let it cool, and read the shapes left by the grounds.
Ask your grandparents
- Sweet, medium or plain?
- Who read the cups in our family?
- Which brand of coffee did we buy?