Organized for the first time this year, Izmir Coffee Fair hosted thousands of participants and visitors, and attracted great attention with its workshops and events such as different conversations, coffee roasting and brewing. Koray Erdoğdu, who has won many championships in national and international Turkish coffee brewing competitions, and Atilla Narin, the author of Lost Coffees of Anatolia and the Coordinator of Safranbolu Coffee Museum, talked about the historical journey of Turkish coffee, the tricks of brewing, and the known mistakes.
Izmir Coffee Fair – Coffee, Coffee Equipment and Consumables Fair, hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and organized in cooperation with İZFAŞ and SNS Fuarcılık, in different conversations at the “Brewing and Tasting Stage” and “Roastery Stage and Application Area”, It also witnessed activities such as coffee roasting and brewing. Koray Erdoğdu and Atilla Narin came together with the visitors at the "500-year history of Turkish coffee and Turkish coffee tasting from qualified coffee beans". Atilla Narin reminded that Turkish coffee and its tradition were included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Representative List in 2013, welcoming guests, holidays, sohbetHe said that Turkish coffee, which has become a must for ceremonies such as weddings and girls, has turned into a cultural item in itself.
How should Turkish coffee be brewed?
Koray Erdoğdu, who has won many championships in the Coffee Pot / Ewer championships, stated that it is wrong to brew Turkish coffee with cold water, and explained the correct brewing method as follows:
“First of all, you need to choose a qualified core. It can be from different seeds according to your taste. You can make Turkish coffee from whole beans. You need to grind the coffee fresh. If you do not have a grinder, take as much as your weekly consumption. Since Turkish coffee is finely ground, it comes into contact with the air too much and this causes it to go stale quickly. In such a case, the taste of the first coffee you drink will not be the same as the last coffee you drink. When brewing coffee, 7-9 grams of Turkish coffee is equivalent to about 2 teaspoons, it is necessary to put it in the coffee pot. Classic Turkish coffee cups take 60-70 milliliters of water. Definitely the water should not be cold. It is necessary to put the coffee in the coffee pot first and then the water at room temperature. It is wrong to put the water first and add the coffee later. Since it is not completely dissolved, it causes agglomeration and the taste and aroma of the coffee does not emerge. After mixing, it is necessary not to interfere when it is on the stove again. After you put it on the stove, you need to brew it for a maximum of 2 minutes. Foam has formed, let me pour it into the cup and put it back on the stove. It should not be done. If you stop the heat reaction when you take the coffee pot from the stove, the heat decreases and when you put it back on the stove, it increases and comes to the boiling point, which causes the coffee to become bitter. So once the foam starts to rise, pour it into the cup in one go. After you put it in the cup, you wait a few minutes so that there is a cooling down time and the grounds have to sit. For a better drink, the bottom of the cups should be wide and the mouth should be narrow.
Turkish coffee will come to much better places internationally
Author of Lost Coffees of Anatolia, Safranbolu Coffee Museum Coordinator Atilla Narin also talked about the historical journey of Turkish coffee over 500 years. Atilla Narin said, “There has been such a perception that Turkish coffee is always made from unqualified beans. However, it is not. Turkish coffee is also made from quality beans, which we call quality coffee. When we look at it, Yemen used to be Ottoman territory and the world's most qualified coffee was drunk from Yemen and 7 different regions at that time. We know that there is an annual purchase of 513 kilograms of coffee beans from a region special to the Ottoman palace. Due to the weakening of Ottoman dominance in the Middle East after the 19th century, coffees of lower caliber began to come from countries such as Brazil as of this period. It took nearly 50 years for it to be adopted. After a while, it became integrated into our culture. Turkish coffee culture is the oldest and most cultured coffee culture in the world. Today, it can be made from low quality coffees due to economic concerns, but the habit of making Turkish coffee from a single bean has ended. Now, Turkish coffee is made with qualified and high quality beans and it has become very popular. I believe that our habits of drinking Turkish coffee day by day will return to their old essence. I believe that Turkish coffee will come to a much better place both nationally and internationally.”