Armenian coffee

Ingredients

Coffee

• 2heaped tsp coffee ground to a flour-fine powder, finer than espresso (about 14 g)
• 160 mlcold water, measured with the cups you will serve in
• sugar to taste: none for sourj sev, 1 tsp for mijin, 2 tsp for anoush

Optional

• 1cardamom pod, cracked, or a tiny pinch of ground cardamom

Equipment and service

• a jazzve (long-handled narrow copper pot, sized so it is two thirds full)
• 2demitasse cups
• a glass of cold water per person
• something sweet: alani, gata or a cube of sugar

Directions

1. Measure the cold water using the serving cups themselves and pour it into the jazzve, which should end up no more than two thirds full so there is room for the foam to climb.
2. Add the sugar to the cold water and stir until it dissolves. Sugar goes in now, never at the table, which is why an Armenian host asks how you take it before making it.
3. Spoon the coffee onto the surface and let it float for a few seconds, then stir once, briefly, to wet it. Stir again after this and you will lose the foam.
4. Set the jazzve on the lowest possible heat, or in traditional practice bury it to the rim in hot sand, and leave it undisturbed. Slow heat is the whole method.
5. Watch for the foam: after 3 to 4 minutes a dark ring forms at the edge, then a thick brown crema rises toward the rim. Lift the pot off the moment it starts to climb, before it breaks.
6. Some households let it rise and settle two or three times, returning it to the heat between rises, for a stronger cup. Never let it actually boil over: boiled coffee goes bitter and the foam collapses for good.
7. Spoon a little of the foam into each cup first, then pour the coffee down the inside of the cup in a slow, steady stream so the grounds stay in the pot as long as possible.
8. Let the cups stand for 1 to 2 minutes so the remaining grounds settle, serve with a glass of cold water, and drink down to the sludge, which you leave. Do not stir the cup.

Technique

• The foam, called the kaymak, is the mark of a well-made cup. It comes from slow heating and from not stirring after the first stir, and a cup served without it is considered carelessly made.
• Armenians drink this after any meal and at any visit, and refusing a cup is close to refusing hospitality. The upturned cup is then read for fortunes, a practice taken half seriously and universally enjoyed.
• The same drink is made across the region and the name is contested; in Armenia it is sourj, and Armenian practice differs mainly in the very fine grind and the frequent absence of cardamom.

Substitutions

• No jazzve: use the smallest, narrowest saucepan you own, filled no more than two thirds. A wide pan gives no foam.
• No coffee ground fine enough: a Turkish grinder setting is essential; espresso grind gives a gritty cup that never settles.

Variations

• Sourj with cardamom, one cracked pod in the pot, is common in the diaspora and in Middle Eastern Armenian communities.
• In winter some households add a shard of dark chocolate or a spoon of grape molasses to the pot.

History

Served at every visit; the cup is often turned over afterwards so the grounds can be read for fortunes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Armenian coffee?

Armenian coffee is a drink from Armenia: finely ground coffee boiled in a jazzve and poured with its foam, grounds settling. Served at every visit; the cup is often turned over afterwards so the grounds can be read for fortunes.

How long does Armenian coffee take to make?

Armenian coffee takes 2 min of preparation and 5 min of cooking. The recipe makes 2 demitasse cups. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Armenian coffee?

Yes, within limits. No jazzve: use the smallest, narrowest saucepan you own, filled no more than two thirds. A wide pan gives no foam. No coffee ground fine enough: a Turkish grinder setting is essential; espresso grind gives a gritty cup that never settles.

What is the most important thing to get right in Armenian coffee?

Add the sugar to the cold water and stir until it dissolves. Sugar goes in now, never at the table, which is why an Armenian host asks how you take it before making it.