How Turkish Espresso Earned Its Place In Specialty Espresso

Estimated studying time: 7 minutes

Key takeaways

The cezve is without doubt one of the world’s oldest brewing strategies nonetheless used at present.
Turkish espresso tradition was designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in 2013.
Specialty espresso is rediscovering the cezve‘s physique and flavour complexity.
The World Cezve/Ibrik Championship has introduced world recognition to the brewing methodology.

A brewing methodology greater than 5 centuries outdated is discovering a brand new viewers amongst baristas and specialty espresso fanatics worldwide.

The cezve, a small, long-handled pot often known as an ibrik or Turkish espresso pot, has lengthy been central to espresso tradition not solely in Turkey and the Balkans however throughout the Center East, North Africa, and elements of Jap Europe. Now it’s attracting renewed curiosity from the specialty espresso trade, which has extra generally championed trendy brewing strategies and automation.

“Take a small espresso pot, add water, finely floor espresso, stir, and let the combination boil up simply to the purpose the place the grounds rise as much as type a thick head of froth,” says Mehmet Kurukahveci, the grandson of the founding father of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, based in 1871. “Then slowly pour into small cups. Wait just a little for the fines to settle, then get pleasure from a wealthy, satisfying brew.”

The current embrace of conventional espresso preparation strategies is important. The cezve presents physique and flavour complexity not corresponding to most brewing strategies, securing its place on the worldwide stage. The World Cezve/Ibrik Championship, just lately held at World of Espresso Dubai 2026, attracts rivals from dozens of nations and has raised the brewing methodology’s profile significantly in specialty espresso.

For an trade that has spent a long time trying ahead, the renewed concentrate on one in all espresso’s oldest traditions marks a notable shift. Because of the cezve’s deep cultural and historic roots, in addition to its emphasis on ritual, it has earned its place in specialty espresso.

You may additionally like our article on why specialty espresso is rising in Turkey.

A historical past of Turkish espresso

Lengthy earlier than paper filters or espresso machines, there was the cezve, with origins relationship again nearly half a millennium.

Historic information place the earliest cultivation of espresso in Yemen within the mid-Fifteenth century. Arabica, grown simply throughout the Purple Sea from its wild origins within the Ethiopian highlands, was first adopted by Sufi dervishes, who used the drink throughout lengthy nightly spiritual ceremonies. Because the Ottoman Empire expanded into the area, it carried espresso again to Istanbul, the place it might tackle a completely new significance.

By the sixteenth century, the coffeehouse had change into a defining function of each day life in Ottoman Turkey. Open to retailers, students, and residents alike, these institutions functioned as centres of dialog and hospitality.

“It was right here, in Istanbul, that Western merchants, travellers, and officers began to note the drink,” Mehmet explains. “In 1585, Gianfrancesco Morosini, the Venetian bailo in Istanbul, reported to the Senate: ‘The Turks drink a black water as scorching as they’ll endure it, which is the infusion of a bean known as cavee, which is claimed to own the advantage of stimulating the thoughts’.”

Some a long time later, coffeehouses unfold throughout Europe. “They might serve espresso ready in a cezve or ibrik,” Mehmet explains. “In actual fact, many Seventeenth-century London coffeehouses took the title ‘The Turk’s Head’ to sign that they served espresso, and their penny tokens (small change issued by every home) had been typically stamped with the portrait of a sultan or a hand pouring from an ibrik.”

European royalty drinking Turkish coffee.

**The cezve’s cultural significance**

The brewing methodology on the centre of historical Turkish espresso homes stays basically unchanged at present. Throughout nations like Greece, Armenia, Bulgaria, and Iran, espresso ready in a cezve or ibrik carries a which means that extends properly past the cup.

“Turkish espresso is an inseparable a part of our custom of hospitality,” Mehmet says. “It’s an expression of the honest welcome we lengthen to friends.” In 2013, UNESCO recognised this significance by inscribing Turkish espresso tradition and custom on its Consultant Record of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

One firm has sat on the centre of this custom for greater than 150 years. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, based in Istanbul in 1871, is among the many world’s oldest espresso roasters.

Earlier than the corporate launched, most shoppers purchased inexperienced beans and roasted and floor them at residence. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi modified this by promoting freshly roasted espresso floor to a really advantageous consistency wanted for the cezve. The corporate now exports to 65 nations and has change into synonymous with Turkish espresso worldwide.

As Turkish espresso turned extra world, Western espresso drinkers moved away from unfiltered brewing. Mehmet explains: “Again then, grinding espresso by hand into the advantageous powder required to make an excellent cup of Turkish espresso was fairly troublesome and time-consuming. If not floor finely sufficient, the grounds will create an disagreeable, grainy really feel on the tongue.

“Filtering could have been a sensible shortcut for European espresso brewers not acquainted with the normal craft,” he provides.

The UAE's Jane Esperante at the 2026 World Cezve/Ibrik Championship.

Turkish espresso emerges in specialty espresso

Right this moment, the cezve has change into a focal point in specialty espresso in Turkey and past.

When ready with care, baristas agree that Turkish espresso produces physique and flavour depth that paper filters would in any other case take away. Exact water temperatures, single origin beans, and managed warmth utility have introduced a brand new stage of technical rigour to the traditional brewing methodology.

Along with Turkey’s thriving specialty espresso scene, the place many trendy cafés brew with the cezve, the World Cezve/Ibrik Championship has helped formalise this shift. The competitors has positioned the cezve alongside pour over strategies used on the World Brewers Cup.

The primary version was held in 2009 in Cologne, Germany, attracting rivals from Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Italy. Nonetheless, many nationwide Specialty Espresso Affiliation chapters initially struggled to seek out sufficient rivals to justify internet hosting the occasion.

After Greece’s Stavros Lamprinidis received the 2014 competitors in Rimini, Italy, he helped revise the foundations to draw extra folks to compete. Since then, baristas from Turkey, Poland, Sweden, Hungary, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, and Ukraine have taken half.

World Cezve/Ibrik Championship rivals should put together two drinks (a easy cezve/ibrik and a signature cezve/ibrik) inside quarter-hour. The competitors additionally encourages baristas to carry their very own cultural twist or aptitude to their routine, serving to preserve the custom of Turkish espresso alive.

How Turkish espresso continues to evolve

The normal copper pot heated over sand stays the popular approach to put together Turkish espresso, however electrical machines have additionally emerged, making the brewing methodology accessible to extra folks.

“Since UNESCO inscribed Turkish espresso tradition on its record of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013, a brand new technology of espresso drinkers has been taking word,” Mehmet says. “Whereas most Turkish espresso lovers will nonetheless choose to make use of a standard copper cezve, there are actually additionally a number of good Turkish espresso machines that put together a reliably good cup.”

From 14 to 17 Might on the 2026 London Espresso Competition, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi will exhibit at sales space G43, inviting attendees to expertise the custom and ritual of Turkish espresso firsthand.