Thanks. I guess my beans were too old. It seems the froth on Turkish coffee is similar to the bloom on French press coffee.

I'll play around with the grind size next time the weather cooperates. Our monsoons are hitting now (a bit late this year), so I may be able to try it again sometime soon.

Many thanks.

Today I used Tanzania Songea Peaberry, light roast, 9 days post-roast.

The main difference from last time was that I packed the coffee a bit into the spoon when I measured it. Last time I just scooped and scraped, much like you would when measuring flour for a cake.

Using the quicker burner, I made a single without sugar. The result: no froth; a bit bright, but not great.

Then I decided to grind even finer. From my experience using these beans and the Turkish grinder for my AeroPress, I know that they are very easy to grind--the coffee grinding equivalent of a hot knife through butter. I turned the Sozen upside down and tightened the screw as much as I could with my fingers (I should tell you that I have replaced the original screw with a regular one and two nuts to make a lock-nut for more stability). There was almost no play in the center burr. That was a much, much tougher grind than the one earlier today and the ones from last time. I don't think the burrs were touching.

This time I made a double and added 7.5 ml of sugar. I got some froth. It also wasn't as bright, as can be expected.

I think I'm going to stay away from fruitier beans and lighter roasts for now (I haven't really been loving this bean in my AeroPress either, although it isn't bad). Next time, I'll try something medium roasted from Central or South America.

slowrain, here are some pictures of ground coffee, grinded with sozen hand mill (no:1 french press and no:5 turkish) when I find time I'll try my hand at an instructional video

original file --> http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/1117/sozen1.jpg

I just made the most delicious Turkish coffee today using Sweet Maria's Monkey espresso blend. I roasted it quite dark, a minute or two into second crack, but still very little oil on bean surface. I ground it to dust on my Zassenhaus mill, even finer than in kahv's picture. Also, I prepared the coffee within an hour from when I roasted it. I've made quite a few Turkish coffees, and this one was the best I've ever had for sure.

My advice concerning Turkish coffee:

1) Roast the beans dark - dark enough for full-bodied espresso.

2) DON'T use acidic beans. Beans that are really "bright" and "lively" at light roasts tend to make poor Turkish. Look for full-bodied beans that remain complex at dark roasts. Chocolate notes = big bonus.

how to prepare --semi sweet-- turkish coffee, grinder sözen turkish mill, cup volume 80ml, beans 4 days old el salvador astro pacamara, roast degree full city

Thanks for posting that video. I wasn't swirling it like you were, nor were my beans as fresh, so I have two things I can do to improve it. The sludge in the bottom is pretty much like what I get.

I also noticed that your Sözen label is still on your grinder. Mine faded and I took it off (quite easily actually) after just a few uses. Does that mean I have a knock-off, or does Sözen no longer care about their labels?

well it means I'm a little bit ocd

I don't pull off or strip labels/stickers from any product I purchase. my friends also complain about that part of me, I used my cell phone over a year with its protective plastic cover on and finally my gf ripped it off showing no mercy and most of the cups in my cup collection either has label stickers or price stickers on them (yeah yeah I do wash 'em "carefully" )

actually I'm not that much obsessive with other things, it just helps me memorize and classify this and that in my mind such as when, where, why, how I bought it, who was with me, how much it costed etc (remember when you had pm'ed and asked about a hand mill which had no labels on it and I had recognized the brand from it's carvings.. it's also related to this obsession, hard to explain lets simply say photographic memory and I need something written for it to kick into action)

as for sözen, I'm sure mine would be worn away too if I was touching upper part or clean it with a wet towel or if I had sweaty hands etc besides you can be sure sözen doesn't have any knock offs, I personally know the craftsman and the company owner (long story) plus the site you purchased it from (baristasepeti) is very reliable, they gather the mills they're selling directly from sözen company. and if it will make you feel more secure, one of the partners of baristasepeti is şerif başaran who's scae turkiye national coordinator.

kahvedelisi, I really enjoy your posts on Turkish coffee. Where most people focus only on what they've been taught you keep refining the art. I will be trying your suggestions in the coming days, comparing them to how I learned to make this coffee years ago. I would love to hear more of your ruminations on your experience of making coffee versus in Arabia. Also, within that division one has to be specific, as there is a great difference between the Levantine and the Gulf methods of roasting and brewing. I'm not in that part of the world to answer these questions. By the way, I'm thinking about sticking to Turkish cups for my espresso making, given that the coffee stays hotter. I wonder if there's any drawback to this.
Beautiful job!

hi ernst,

I was about to post another video (a better one with better lights) and just read your post. Thanks for your kind words. Your questions, I promise I'll write a detailed answer soon (it's 6 am here, and I'm a little bit sleepy). Actually I had already written something about turkish coffee cups vs espresso cups in turkish, I'll need to properly translate it but no there's no drawback a) if you prefer your espresso shots extra hot b) if you're not consuming your espresso immediately in 1 or 2 gulps

the new video --> turkish coffee from scratch

Coffee: Guatemala Antigua Los Volcanes, air popcorn popper roasted to city plus / measuring spoon size: 1tsp / turkish mill brand: sozen / sugar is not necessary for better brew, it's just preference. I prefer mine without sugar but I had to include sugar in this video for the sake of giving instructions. so this one was sweet, if you prefer yours semi sweet then use just 1tsp sugar / spoon test: to show how fresh the coffee and how thick the foam is. (just like espresso crema) you may drag a spoon through turkish coffee foam to test its recovery.