Very finely ground coffee is simmered (traditionally not boiled to a rolling boil) with water, and often sugar, directly in a small pot called a cezve, then served unfiltered so grounds settle at the bottom of the cup.
Coffee-to-water ratio
90–120 g per litre (typically 100)
Grind
Extremely fine, closer to powder than table salt.
Water temperature, as commonly used
80-96 celsius (typically 90)°C
Contact time
180-300 seconds (typically 240)
Skill level
intermediate
Descriptive grind labels like this are illustrative starting points, not precise measurements — the same label can mean different particle sizes on different grinders. See the grind size guide for how to dial this in on your own equipment.
In short
This method brews coffee by heating very finely ground coffee and water together in a small long-handled pot, known as a cezve or ibrik, and pouring the result into the cup without filtering it. The grounds settle to the bottom and are left there.
It is one of the oldest ways of making coffee still in daily use, and it is shared, under different names and with local differences, across Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, the Levant and North Africa. This page is about the technique; the cultural traditions have their own pages.
Why the grind is a powder
CoffeeHQ explanation
Nothing separates the coffee from the water here, so the grounds have to separate themselves by sinking. Particles ground to a flour-like powder are small enough to stay suspended briefly, giving the drink its thick, velvety texture, and then to settle into a compact layer once the cup stands for a minute.
That fineness also means extraction is very fast. The coffee gives up its soluble material almost as soon as the water is warm, which is why the method needs only a few minutes and why heat control matters more than timing.
Most home grinders cannot grind this fine. Coffee sold for the purpose is ground on dedicated mills, and a hand mill made for it is the traditional tool.
Proportions people actually use
Typical range
The traditional measure is the serving cup itself: one small cup of cold water per person, and a heaped teaspoon or two of coffee.
Proportions people actually use
Variable
Typical range
What moving it does
Coffee to water
About 90–120 g per litre (roughly 1:8 to 1:11)
Around 7 g of coffee to 60–70 ml of water for one small cup.
Grind
As fine as flour
Finer than espresso.
Sugar
None, a little, medium or sweet
Added to the pot before heating and never stirred into the cup afterwards, since stirring would lift the grounds.
Time on the heat
About 3–5 minutes for a small pot
From cold water. Slower is generally considered better.
These describe common household practice. Proportions vary between countries, families and cafés, and none is the single correct recipe.
Heating without boiling over
Widely documented
Start cold. Put cold water, coffee and any sugar in the pot and stir until combined. This is the only time you stir.
Heat gently. Use low to medium heat. A dark ring forms at the edge and a layer of foam builds across the surface as the liquid warms.
Take it off as the foam rises. When the foam swells and climbs towards the rim, lift the pot from the heat. Letting it reach a rolling boil breaks the foam and makes the coffee harsh.
Pour slowly and wait. Pour gently so the foam flows into the cup, then leave it for a minute so the grounds settle before drinking.
Some cooks return the pot to the heat to raise the foam a second or third time. Practice differs, and both ways are traditional somewhere.
From the first cup to your own: change one thing
CoffeeHQ explanation
There is no timer and no scale in most kitchens where this coffee is made, and none is needed. What the method asks for is attention to the surface of the pot. If a cup is not what you wanted, change one thing for the next one, in this order.
Make one cup and watch the surface. Notice the dark ring forming at the edge, the foam closing over the middle, and how quickly it climbs at the end. Then notice the cup: whether the foam came with it, how it tastes once it has stood, and how much is left at the bottom.
Keep the cup as your measure. Measure the water with the cup you will drink from and count the coffee in spoons per cup. Holding those steady is what makes the next cup comparable with this one.
Change the heat first. Heat decides more than anything else here. If the foam came up in a rush, broke, or the pot bubbled, use a gentler heat. If almost no foam formed and the cup is thin and sharp, it may have come off before it was hot enough: give it a little longer, still short of a boil.
Then the amounts. Nothing is filtered out, so strength follows the amounts directly. Thin: a heaped spoon where you used a level one. Too much: the reverse. Sugar is a choice made before heating, not a correction afterwards.
Then the coffee itself. If the cup is sandy even after standing, the grind is not fine enough for the method, and most home grinders cannot fix that: buy coffee ground for the purpose. If the foam is poor at any heat, the coffee may simply be old.
How sweet, how strong and whether the foam is raised once or several times are matters of household and tradition. None of them is a fault to be corrected.
What the foam tells you
Tendency, not a guarantee
The foam is treated as the mark of a well-made cup. It forms as gas trapped in the coffee is released and caught by the thick, particle-laden liquid, so fresher coffee and gentler heating usually give more of it.
Little or no foam most often means the pot was heated too fast or allowed to boil, or the coffee was stale. It is a reasonable sign of care, but it is not a measure of how the coffee will taste.
Gritty, bitter or flat
CoffeeHQ explanation
A mouthful of grounds
Usually because: The cup was drunk before the grounds settled, or the grind was not fine enough to compact.
Change first: Wait a full minute after pouring, and stop drinking before the last sip.
Bitter and burnt-tasting
Usually because: Most often the coffee boiled. Traditional practice is to stop short of a boil, which is blamed for harshness and for losing the foam. A dark roast or a lot of coffee per cup is bitter even when heated gently.
Change first: Lower the heat and remove the pot the moment the foam rises. If it is still bitter, use a little less coffee per cup.
Thin and weak
Usually because: Too little coffee for the water, or a grind too coarse to extract in the short time.
Change first: Add coffee before changing anything else.
Usually because: The pot came off the heat before the coffee was hot enough for the foam to rise, or the roast is a light one and is sharp however it is made.
Change first: Keep it on a low heat a little longer, until the foam rises, and stop there.
It rises suddenly and boils over
Usually because: The heat is too high, or the pot is too full. The pot narrows at the neck, so a rising foam speeds up as it climbs.
Change first: Lower the heat first and stay with the pot. If it still runs over, fill it less: to about where the pot begins to narrow.
The foam does not reach the cup
Usually because: The coffee boiled, or the pot was stirred after it began to warm, which breaks the foam as it forms.
Change first: Stir only at the start. Pour slowly from close to the cup; for several cups, some cooks spoon a little foam into each first.
The size of the pot, the heat and washing up
CoffeeHQ explanation
This method does not scale inside one pot. A cezve is made for a number of small cups, and it works when the liquid comes up to about where the pot begins to narrow: the neck is what gathers the foam and lets you see it rise. One cup's worth in a large pot spreads across the base and makes little foam; a pot filled past the neck boils over. For more people, use a larger pot or make a second round, which is how it is often served anyway.
Sugared coffee that boils over is very hot and sticks to the skin, and a small pot on a large gas ring can have flame reaching its handle. Use the smallest burner, keep the heat low, hold the handle throughout and do not walk away from it. It takes a few minutes and wants all of them.
Wash the pot by hand with a soft cloth once it has cooled, and dry it. A copper or brass pot is lined with tin, which is soft and has its own care; the cezve maker page covers the lining, what wears it, and when a pot should be re-tinned or retired. Do not heat any cezve empty.
One technique, several traditions
Accounts differ
The same basic method is claimed, named and served differently across the region, and the names carry real cultural and political weight.
Turkish coffee — The tradition as practised in Turkey, where its culture and customs are recognised on a UNESCO heritage list.
Greek coffee — Made the same way in a briki, usually with a lighter roast and its own vocabulary for sweetness.
Bosnian coffee — Differs in sequence: the water is heated first and the coffee added to it, and it is served with its own ritual.
Gulf Arabic coffee — A different drink altogether: lightly roasted, spiced with cardamom, boiled longer and poured from a dallah.
Choosing and caring for a cezve — Why size follows the number of cups, copper against steel, and how to look after a tin lining.
Make my coffee better — Choose the cezve and tick what you noticed; it gives one change to try and what to look for in the next cup.
Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.
Owning a cezve: the pot, the heat and the foam
The sections above give the proportions, the heating method and what to change. This part is about the pot and the stove: what each feature of a cezve is for, what to do with a new one, how to read the surface as it heats, and what is a fault against what is simply the method. Coffee made this way is unfiltered. The grounds in the cup are part of it.
Your maker's instructions come first. There is no one maker and no manual. The pot is called a cezve, an ibrik, a briki, a džezva and other names, and is made in copper, brass, steel and other metals by many workshops. The coffee is made across a wide region, and households and countries differ on sugar, on how many times the foam is raised and on how it is served. Nothing here is the correct way. A lined copper pot has care of its own, and its maker's or seller's advice comes first.
I have just bought one. What do I do first?
Find out how many cups it is made for. A cezve is sized in small cups. Fill a serving cup with water and pour it in until the water reaches where the pot begins to narrow: the number of cupfuls is its size. It works best brewing that number.
Look at what it is made of, and at its lining. Copper and brass pots are lined, traditionally with tin. Look inside: the lining should be whole and silver-grey. Steel needs no lining. The cezve maker page covers what to do if the lining is worn.
Wash it by hand and dry it. Warm water, a little washing-up liquid and a soft cloth. Nothing abrasive on a tin lining.
Check the handle and choose the smallest burner. The handle should be firm. On gas, use the smallest ring and a low flame that stays under the base, so it does not reach up the sides to the handle.
Get coffee ground for this method. It is ground to a powder, finer than espresso. Most home grinders cannot reach it. Coffee sold ground for Turkish coffee, or ground to order by a shop, is the usual answer.
Decide on sugar before you start. Sugar, if any, usually goes in with the water and coffee at the start, because stirring a poured cup lifts the grounds. How sweet is a matter of taste and custom.
Make one cup, watching the surface the whole time. Follow the heating steps above. Stay with the pot: the foam rises quickly at the end and the pot can boil over in a moment.
Let it settle, taste, and change one thing. Leave the cup for a minute so the grounds sink, and stop drinking before the layer at the bottom. Then change one thing for the next cup.
What each part of a cezve is for
The wide base
Sits on the heat and takes it in quickly. A wide base on a small flame heats the coffee evenly.
The narrowing neck
Gathers the foam as it rises and slows it, which gives you a moment to see it coming and lift the pot. It is why the pot is filled only to where it begins to narrow.
The rim and spout
A flared rim with a pouring lip, so the foam can be poured or spooned into the cup first and the coffee after it.
The long handle
Keeps the hand away from the heat and lets the pot be lifted the instant the foam climbs. On many pots it is metal and gets hot.
The metal and its lining
Copper conducts heat quickly and evenly, which suits a method that turns on a few seconds. It is lined so the coffee does not touch the copper. Steel is slower to respond and needs no lining.
The grounds in the cup are the method, not a fault
CoffeeHQ reasoning
Nothing filters this coffee. The powder is brewed in the water and poured with it, and it settles in the cup. A layer of fine sludge at the bottom, a heavy body and a cloudy cup are what the method makes.
So it should not be judged by the clarity of paper-filtered coffee, and the fixes for a muddy pour-over do not apply. The normal practice is to let the cup stand, drink down to the sediment and leave it.
What would be a fault is grit all through the cup after it has stood, which points to a grind coarser than a powder, whose grit neither stays up nor settles cleanly, or to a cup that was stirred or drunk at once.
What the foam is telling you
Common practice
As the pot warms, a dark ring forms at the edge and a layer of foam closes over the surface. Near the end it swells and climbs the neck. That climb is the signal to lift the pot.
Foam is prized in Turkey and in many other places where this coffee is made, and there a cup served with none is often thought poorly made. That is custom, and customs differ. Where foam is wanted it is also a useful reading: foam that builds slowly and holds usually goes with gentle heat and fresh coffee; no foam usually means stale coffee, a rolling boil that broke it, or one cup's worth in a pot made for several.
Whether the pot goes back on the heat to raise the foam a second or third time differs between households and countries. Both ways are traditional somewhere, and this page does not choose.
What changes what in a cezve
Each line is a tendency and the mechanism behind it, not a promise about taste. The last part of each says what else the result depends on.
Heatlower or higher
Low heat gives a slow rise, more time for the foam to build and more time to react. High heat brings it up fast and is likelier to boil over and break the foam.
But it also depends on: The hob and the pot. Copper answers a change of flame at once; steel lags.
When it comes offas the foam rises, or after it boils
Lifted as the foam climbs, the cup keeps its foam. Left to a rolling boil, the foam breaks, and the coffee is traditionally held to turn harsh.
But it also depends on: Watching it. This is practice; no measurement of it was read.
Coffee per cupmore or less
More coffee is a stronger, heavier cup with more sediment.
But it also depends on: The size of the cup, which varies from place to place.
Grindpowder, or merely fine
A true powder stays in the liquid long enough to give body and then sinks. A coarser grind gives a thinner cup with grit that neither stays up nor settles cleanly.
But it also depends on: The grinder, or the shop that grinds it.
Sugarnone, a little or a lot, added at the start
Sweetens the cup and softens bitterness. Sugared coffee also behaves differently on the heat and sticks if it boils over.
But it also depends on: Custom and taste. Unsweetened is as traditional as sweet.
How full the pot isto the start of the neck, or well under
At the right level the neck gathers the foam. Well under it, the liquid spreads over the base and makes little foam. Over it, the pot boils over.
But it also depends on: The size of the pot against the number of cups.
Settlingleft to stand, or drunk at once
A minute's rest lets the grounds sink, so the cup drinks cleaner.
But it also depends on: The grind, which decides how quickly they sink.
When a cezve goes wrong
For each thing you might notice: what to consider, since there is rarely one cause, and the first thing to try. One change, then brew again.
It boils over
Consider
Heat too high
The pot filled past where it narrows
Attention elsewhere for the few seconds that matter
A burner too large for the pot
Try first: Lower the heat and fill only to the start of the neck. Hold the handle from the moment the ring forms at the edge.
Try first: Use more coffee per cup before changing anything else.
There are grounds all through the cup, not just at the bottom
Consider
It was drunk straight after pouring
A grind too coarse to settle cleanly
The cup was stirred
It was poured fast, to the last drop
Try first: Let the cup stand for a minute and stop before the bottom. Sediment at the bottom is normal; grit all the way up after a rest points to the grind.
It heats unevenly, or differently each time
Consider
A burner much larger or smaller than the base
A different amount in the pot each time
A thin steel pot on a strong flame
An electric or induction hob that cycles on and off
Try first: Use the same burner, the same setting and the same number of cups each time, so the rise becomes something you recognise.
Change one thing, observe, learn
Each of these changes one thing and holds the rest. Brew the two side by side where you can, and write down what you notice before deciding which you prefer.
Lifted at the rise against left a moment longer
Change
Take one pot off as the foam first climbs. Let the next go a few seconds further, to the edge of boiling, with your hand on the handle.
Keep the same
The coffee, the amounts, the sugar and the heat.
What to notice
The foam in each cup and the finish. Do not walk away from the second.
Low heat against medium
Change
Brew once on the lowest steady heat and once on a medium setting.
Keep the same
The coffee, the amounts and when you lift it.
What to notice
How much warning the foam gives you, and how the two cups differ.
Drunk at once against rested
Change
Pour two cups from one pot. Sip one straight away and leave the other a minute.
Keep the same
It is one pot.
What to notice
The grit in the first sip of each. This is what settling is for.
What to avoid with a cezve
Walking away from it. It takes a few minutes and boils over in a moment, and sugared coffee is very hot and sticks to skin.CoffeeHQ reasoning
A flame that reaches up the sides. On a small pot it can heat the handle. Use the smallest burner and keep the flame under the base.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Heating an empty pot. A tin lining melts at a temperature a dry pot on a flame can reach.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Metal spoons and abrasive cleaners in a lined pot. Tin is soft, and the lining is what keeps the coffee off the copper.Common practice
Grabbing a metal handle without checking it. On many pots it gets as hot as the pot.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Tricks to speed it up, such as starting with boiling water on high heat. The method depends on a slow rise, and a fast one is how pots boil over.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Judging the cup by paper-filter standards. Body, cloudiness and a layer of grounds are the method.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Looking after the pot
Every time
Let it cool, then wash it by hand with a soft cloth and dry it. Coffee left to dry in the neck is hard to shift later.Common practice
Dry a copper or brass pot straight away, inside and out, so it does not spot or tarnish.Common practice
From time to time
Look at the lining of a copper or brass pot. If copper shows through, the pot should be re-tinned before it is used again; the cezve maker page explains why and how.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Check that the handle is still tight. Rivets and screwed handles loosen with heat over time.CoffeeHQ reasoning
Parts that wear
The tin lining
Copper showing through the silver-grey inside. It wears under metal utensils and abrasives, and is renewed by re-tinning.CoffeeHQ reasoning
The handle
Movement where it joins the pot. A loose handle on a pot of near-boiling coffee is a reason to stop using it until it is fixed.CoffeeHQ reasoning
What else changes how it is used
Only the things that change the brewing. None of this is a list of things to buy.
A pot sized for the cups you pour
The method does not scale inside one pot. The size is the recipe.
Coffee ground to a powder
The grind is what makes the body and lets the grounds settle, and it is beyond most home grinders.
Small cups
The proportions, the foam and the settling are all worked out for a small cup.
A small, steady burner
Low, even heat under the base is the main control you have.
From the first brew to knowing it well
Learn the rise. The ring at the edge, the foam closing over, the climb. Lift the pot in time, every time.
Find your heat. The lowest setting on your hob that still brings it up in a few minutes.
Set the strength and the sugar. By coffee per cup and by taste, for the cups you use.
Pour for the foam. Foam into each cup first, then the coffee, then a minute's rest.
Try other ways of making it. A second rise, cardamom, a different country's proportions. Each is somebody's tradition and none replaces the others.
Improve this, from here
Make my coffee better: cezve — Tick what you noticed and get the possibilities, the quickest check and one change.
The cezve as an object — Sizes, copper against steel and brass, and looking after a tin lining.
Change one thing at a time: the heat first, then the amount of coffee per cup. Lift the pot away as the foam rises, and let the cup stand for a minute before drinking so the grounds settle.
Each step links to its own page; this is the order they belong in.
I have coffee and a brewer
You own something to brew with and want a good cup from it.
Find your brewer's page, start from its recipe, and change one thing at a time. The later steps are for when the cup is not right, and for finding out why a change worked.
1Find your brewerWhat it does to the coffee, and a starting recipe labelled as a starting point.
2Work out the amountsCoffee and water for the cup you are making; the recipe scaler follows from it.
3If the cup is not rightChoose the brewer, tick what you noticed: the quickest check, and one change.
4One change per brewThe same loop written out for filter coffee, from the first brew to a recipe you keep.
5Why the change worksStrength and extraction as two numbers, and what a taste can and cannot tell you.
6Test it yourselfHow to compare two cups so the difference is the thing you changed.