Turkish Coffee beans and blends

[Giovan]

Hi all,

I'd like to ask some of the Turkish Coffee connoisseurs in this forum for some assistance on choosing the right beans.

I've been very impressed recently with McIver's Coffee and I'd like to experiment with some of their beans to make a strong Turkish coffee with the typical characteristics.

Appealing to your connoisseurship I'd love to hear from you with any suggestions.

Their selection can be found on their website, commercial link removed per http://coffeesnobs.com.au/general-ne...icy-rules.html

Kind regards,

Gio

[TampIt]

Hi Giovan

A location would help... a lot.

There is only one place in Perth I know of that sells traditional Turkish coffee beans complete with cardamom (actually, it is Lebanese beans, but same thing). When I lived in Sydney (long time ago) I used to get them from Melbourne...

TampIt

[Giovan]

Hi Giovan

A location would help... a lot.

There is only one place in Perth I know of that sells traditional Turkish coffee beans complete with cardamom (actually, it is Lebanese beans, but same thing). When I lived in Sydney (long time ago) I used to get them from Melbourne...

TampIt

Thanks for your reply TampIt. I buy my coffee in Melbourne. McIver's have a retail outlet at Queen Victoria Market. With Turkish coffee I've been having some luck lately with their Italian Espresso blend adding in a bit of Brazil Mokka. Hopefully you connoisseurs on this board may illuminate me with other formulas that would work well.

Cheers,

Giovan

[TampIt]

Thanks for your reply TampIt. I buy my coffee in Melbourne. McIver's have a retail outlet at Queen Victoria Market. With Turkish coffee I've been having some luck lately with their Italian Espresso blend adding in a bit of Brazil Mokka. Hopefully you connoisseurs on this board may illuminate me with other formulas that would work well.

Cheers,

Giovan

Hi Giovan

I presume you are using an Ibrik and doing it "traditional"? If so, you need to add cardamom (around 20%???, been a long time since I made it from scratch!) to get the "proper traditional flavour". It should actually be roasted with a coffee bean that can take a lot of roasting, as Turkish is a VERY dark roast indeed.

From scratch, I used to start with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe green coffee beans, add the cardamom, roast it until it was nearly charcoal (slow and long roast) and then make up the Turkish that day in my very "non traditional" 316 stainless steel Ibrik. The fresher the roast the better (unlike espresso, where days 4 to 11 is usually the best). Nothing in common with a normal espresso roast in any way.

These days, now Caffissimo W Pth has managed to get their NG farm to produce NGA "just like the 60's again", I would use it (not a help for you in Melb, I know). Reason: The old NGA was the only other coffee back then that seemed to be capable of getting roasted to that extent without destructing. Obviously there may be others these days I do not know about...

If you wish to know how to make traditional Turkish, the "world of coffee" TV show was done in Melbourne and one of the episodes had the whole procedure exactly as I was taught it in 1971: right down to the "make it froth up three times and squash it down" bit. Worth getting to know who did it and asking them to show you! If I remember correctly, it was a fanatical general community guy, not a coffee shop. He knew a lot more about how to do a good Turkish than I will ever know, and he probably knows exactly where to get the beans in Melbourne (even if it is his uncle's home roast...).

Have fun with your cuppa.

TampIt

[Giovan]

Hi TampIt,

Great to have your advice, thanks. I make Turkish coffee the traditional way but without the cinnamon. For some reason or another the "make it rise three times" just kills my foam. Fortunately I've heard there's a lot of variation from one Turkish grandmother to another so the "let it rise just once" is still valid.

Onto the coffee beans, interestingly I discovered the Colombian Dark on the McIver's Coffee website produces more foam. I'm trying to find one or two other beans to make a suitable Turkish blend. I'm still a newbie at the art and intricacies of coffee beans selection. Suggestions?

A much grateful Giovan, thanking you.

Cheers,

[TampIt]

Hi TampIt,

Great to have your advice, thanks. I make Turkish coffee the traditional way but without the cinnamon. For some reason or another the "make it rise three times" just kills my foam. Fortunately I've heard there's a lot of variation from one Turkish grandmother to another so the "let it rise just once" is still valid.

Hi Giovan

No worries. Did you track down the WOC TV show / guy? He was amazing! I reckon the one he did "on camera" was better than any I have ever had / made.

Yes, there are differences in regions in Turkish coffees, however they all use cardamom AFAIK. Also, adding cardamom, not cinnamon: couldn't be more different. Essential for a true Turkish or everything from flavour to foaming mechanics will not work... I had enough failures early on to be 99% sure about that. It took me about 5 or 6 roasting fails (with the cardamom) before I nailed it, and was just getting it good when the Perth deli I mentioned started to import the real stuff daily. Buying it for the same price as the green beans and not having to spend a few hour ginning around with a roaster meant that I just bought it from them after that.

Onto the coffee beans, interestingly I discovered the Colombian Dark on the McIver's Coffee website produces more foam. I'm trying to find one or two other beans to make a suitable Turkish blend. I'm still a newbie at the art and intricacies of coffee beans selection. Suggestions?

A much grateful Giovan, thanking you.

Cheers,

The beans: Trying to do Turkish without having the roasted in cardamom would be a lot harder (perhaps impossible). My beloved "King Hiram's" in Lygon St is long gone, however if you cannot access the WOC guy, try some of the wonderful middle eastern supply stores which presumably are still around in Melbourne. Also Turkish / Leb restaurants must have access to the correct stuff, so finding out where they get it would be another option.

I did try it way back with the orig New Guinea (worked quite well) and the Dark Col (less so), however that was over 20 years ago and I know the various Colombians have changed a lot since then. The Ethiopian Yirgacheffe I mentioned was the bean that the Lebanese guys I knew used, and roasting it was better again. All with cardamom, naturally. Andy / site owner / bean bay usually has Ethiopian Yirgacheffe listed if you want to do it yourself (thinking masochist, whatever turns you on...). Be warned, conventional roasting techniques does not work well with Turkish style, I recall I had a really steep (un)learning curve at the time.


All the Best.


TampIt