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Author:
Franco Salzillo
We often talk about French and Italian coffees; they’re la crème de la crème. Still, they’re not the only countries with rich coffee traditions. Greece has its own thing, and it’s fabulous.
Like Turkish coffee, Greek coffee is made with finely ground coffee, and instead of infusing water with the roasted bean, you make a suspension, and it makes all the difference.
So why is Greek coffee special? For starters, it’s rich and flavorful and wonderfully creamy — it has the loveliest thin foam layer, too!
You surely imagine you need coffee for this one, but not every coffee will do. You want a medium to full roast, preferably Arabica or an Arabica-Robusta blend.
You also want it finely ground, almost like powder. You can grind it yourself or ask your barista to grind it for you.
Once you have the coffee, you’ll also need sugar (or your favorite sweetener) and water. The most important thing you’ll need is a briki coffee pot.
These traditional stovetop coffee pots have a handle, and they come in different sizes. For the recipe below, we’ll assume you’re using an individual one. If not, just double the recipe.
This recipe is apparently simple, but there is a secret. You must sweeten and dissolve the coffee the best you can before heating it in the briki coffee pot. Once it boils, it’s ready. If you stir once the heating process starts, you risk losing that lovely crema or coffee foam.
The other secret is making sure you serve yourself all the sediments. Since you’re not using any filter for this one, you depend on the finely ground coffee to give the drink its flavor and texture.
The residual coffee is what makes this coffee style so much fun! Some say you can tell your fortune by reading the sediment left in your cup.
Read on and make yourself a lovely cup of authentic Greek coffee. And if you don’t have a briki coffee pot yet, get one! It will change the way you see coffee forever.
Pour the water, coffee and sugar in the briki coffee pot, stir to combine.
Heat over medium flame and wait until it boils; a layer of foam will form. You don’t need to stir again.
Once it boils, remove it from heat and serve immediately. If making more than one cup, share the foam!
