Jonk wrote:Nice to hear we have the same experience. I'm using the Niche set to 0 and it works a treat. Almost espresso "coarse" is also fine.

https://www.specialtyturkishcoffee.com/ is a great find and I'm pleased to see a community embracing specialty within the cezve space. BH just did an immersion series and featured a cezve section and they talk about the tradition of grinding as fine as possible suggesting, in the end, their better brews came from slightly finer than espresso but not the finest available.

Thanks for that, it's very interesting.

Do you have the whole STC kit or did you cobble gear together from other sources? I would imagine a key element is using a quality pot/ibrik/cezve. I've seen them for $15 on amazon and assumed they wouldn't work as well.

jpender wrote:Thanks for that, it's very interesting.

Do you have the whole STC kit or did you cobble gear together from other sources? I would imagine a key element is using a quality pot/ibrik/cezve. I've seen them for $15 on amazon and assumed they wouldn't work as well.

it's about thermal connectivity. When you're directly apply heat to the brewer to heat it up you want a thermal conductor, when you're pouring already heated water into a brewer you want a thermal insulator. in this case, fire is being used to heat the cezve so you want a thermal conductor to transfer that heat as efficiently as possible. this is why they use copper as it is a good thermal conductor.

copper has a thermal conductivity of 401 W/mK where steel is 14 W/mK (the higher the number the better). also, steel is more prone to uneven distribution and will have hot spots and cool spots so this translates to uneven heat distribution to the coffee. silver has the highest thermal conductivity at 429 W/mK so silver transfers the heat fastest so everything happens quicker and this translates to heating it twice as fast as copper. for this reason, the insides of cezue are often coated with silver.

Tin lining is also common but the dangers of tin is that it has a lower melting point and if for some reason you left the cezue on the flame the tin would eventually melt but even under normal use tin is more malleable and just by stirring it with a spoon daily eventually the tin will wear off (you can get them recoated). Silver won't do this so silver-lined cezue, for this reason, are better. At a cafe that serves cezue coffee lots, it will need to be recoated once a year and for a home user, it will show wear in 3-5 years depending on how much you use it. Tin is also a poor conductor and it is the last barrier that will need to be heated so your thermal stability won't be as good where silver is a very good thermal conductor. silver lined doesn't cost that much more as it is a very thin layer and it's only a few dollars more but the metal you choose makes a big difference to the qaulity of cup you can get.

I would recommend the traditional copper silver lined cezue to get the best results. outside of STC, soy is a good brand and you don't need any fancy stands but they are helpful. a standalone copper/silver lined soy cezue where I am from (asia) is about $75.

That makes sense. I would imagine that thickness of the metal and plating would also matter, as well as overall craftsmanship. But having never used any of these pots I can't tell how much is function versus fashion. Silver is shinier.

By the way, the pots STC sells are made by Soy.

I don't know much about the varied quality among other manufactures but I'm sure it's all over the place. soy has done the science and uses 1.5mm thickness of copper. it's coated because there is a risk of led contamination (but highly unlikely today) and I think they do tin and silver lined versions. the tin and silver I think are $10 difference so just get the silver because it's far better. You can get any cheap one on amazon, there are a lot of different examples but soy is a trusted brand in the industry. Get a cheap stainless steal one or use a milk picture if you want to get an idea but if it's something that you want to invest in or have a better experience get a soy branded one.

I've seen a few people post in the roasting forum that they brew Turkish soon after brewing. Is this a good way to test roasts. Seems like it could be a consistent approach not affected so much but grind size but more "drinkable" than cupping

DamianWarS wrote:I don't know much about the varied quality among other manufactures but I'm sure it's all over the place. soy has done the science and uses 1.5mm thickness of copper. it's coated because there is a risk of led contamination (but highly unlikely today) and I think they do tin and silver lined versions. the tin and silver I think are $10 difference so just get the silver because it's far better. You can get any cheap one on amazon, there are a lot of different examples but soy is a trusted brand in the industry. Get a cheap stainless steal one or use a milk picture if you want to get an idea but if it's something that you want to invest in or have a better experience get a soy branded one.

Lead in the copper? I thought the problem was copper leaching into the coffee due to its acidity. Maybe you're thinking of lead in some tin alloys?

Near as I can tell all I really need to try this form of brewing is a decent pot. I have a little butane stove. A fancy kettle or a stand or a serving tray don't seem necessary. Maybe an appropriate size/shape cup would be a good idea. So $100 or so...