Name: Greek coffee
Total time: 6 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon Very finely ground coffee; 60 ml Cold water; 1 teaspoon Sugar

Parameters

Total time: 6 min
Cup: 2.0 fl oz

Grind: Extremely fine, finer than espresso: the setting grinders label «Turkish». With an espresso grind the grounds will not settle.

Served in: Greek coffee cup, 60–70 ml

Water, coffee and sugar scale with the number of cups. The time on the heat does not: you go by eye, until the kaimáki rises.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon Very finely ground coffee — One heaped teaspoon per cup
2.0 fl oz Cold water — One full coffee cup: 60–70 ml according to the source
1 teaspoon Sugar — Métrios version · skétos: none · glykós: two

Method

Measure the water with the cup

Fill the cup you will serve in and pour it into the briki: that is how it is portioned, one cup per serving.
Add coffee and sugar

One heaped teaspoon of coffee per cup, plus the sugar for the version requested. Stir only now, until both dissolve.
Heat without stirring

Medium-low heat. From this point on you do not stir: the kaimáki only forms if the surface is left undisturbed.
Lift it as the foam rises

As soon as the foam climbs towards the rim, take the briki off the heat. It must not boil beyond that.
Pour and let it rest

Pour slowly so as not to break the kaimáki, then let it rest for 4–5 minutes so the grounds can settle.

Common mistakes

No kaimáki → the heat is too high: the foam builds slowly, over a medium-low flame.
It boils over → the briki should not be filled beyond two thirds, and comes off the heat as soon as the foam rises.
Grounds in the mouth → it was stirred after cooking, or drunk past the halfway mark.
Stir only at the start, to dissolve coffee and sugar. After that, leave it alone.
Once poured, let it rest for 4–5 minutes: the grounds settle.

Greek coffee is made in a briki: very fine coffee, cold water and any sugar go in together and onto the heat. It is neither percolation nor infusion — it is a decoction, and the grounds stay in the cup: you drink down to halfway and no further.

The measure is not the scale but the cup, used to portion the water for each serving. You read the result in the kaimáki, the dense foam on the surface: if it reaches the cup intact, the coffee was made well.

Turkish and Arabic coffee are made with the same tool and each has its own tradition and its own proportions: they are sister preparations, not the same thing under different names.