Bosnian Coffee
How to make Bosnian coffee (bosanska kahva) in a džezva: heat the water first, then add the coffee, lift it as the foam rises, and serve with sugar cubes and rahat lokum.
Contents
How do you make Bosnian coffee?
Heat water in a džezva until it boils and keep a little aside. Take it off the heat, stir in powder-fine coffee and return it to a low heat until the foam rises. Add back the reserved water, then pour into a small handleless cup, a fildžan. Serve with sugar cubes, rahat lokum and a glass of water. Sugar isn't added to the pot.
At a glance
- Grind
- Powder (flour-like)
- Water
- Water boiled first
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Origin
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
Method
Boil the water
Heat the water in the džezva until it boils. Pour a little of it into a cup and keep it aside.
Add the coffee off the heat
Take the džezva off the heat and stir in the powder-fine coffee.
Heat until the foam rises
Return it to a low heat and lift it off as the foam, the kajmak, rises, before it boils over. Some cooks let it rise more than once.
Add back the water
Pour the reserved hot water back in. Some cooks then bring the foam up once more for a thicker head.
Serve
Pour into a fildžan and serve on a tray with sugar cubes, a piece of rahat lokum and a glass of water.
Bosnian coffee, bosanska kahva, looks a lot like Turkish coffee: powder-fine coffee brewed in a small long-handled pot, the džezva, and served unfiltered. The difference is the order: in Bosnia, the water is boiled first and the coffee goes in afterwards, off the heat. It’s served on a tray in a small, handleless cup, the fildžan, with sugar cubes, a piece of rahat lokum and a glass of water, and it’s meant to be drunk slowly, in company. Here’s how to make it.
The short version
- A džezva, the small long-handled pot.
- Boil the water first, keeping a little aside.
- Add the coffee off the heat, then back on until it foams.
- Add back the reserved water at the end.
- Sugar cubes on the side, not in the pot.
How is Bosnian coffee different from Turkish coffee?
| Bosnian coffee | Turkish coffee | |
|---|---|---|
| Order | Water boiled first, coffee added after | Coffee and cold water together from the start |
| Sugar | Usually cubes on the side | Usually in the pot |
| Pot | Džezva | Cezve |
| Cup | Fildžan, handleless | Fincan |
Sources don’t all agree, and some Bosnian recipes do put sugar in the pot, but the water-first method and sugar on the side are what most describe as Bosnian.
How do you make Bosnian coffee, step by step?
- Boil the water in the džezva. Pour a little into a cup and keep it aside.
- Take it off the heat and stir in the powder-fine coffee.
- Return it to a low heat, and lift it off as the foam, the kajmak, rises, before it boils over. Some cooks let it rise several times.
- Pour the reserved water back in. Some cooks bring the foam up once more for a thicker head.
- Pour into a fildžan and serve on a tray.
How much coffee should I use?
Use the fildžan to measure the water, one per person: Lezzet Coffee puts a fildžan at 60 to 70 ml. Lezzet uses about 7 g, one heaping teaspoon, of powder-fine coffee per cup, while Food House Mostar uses 2 heaped teaspoons. Recipes vary from family to family, so there’s no single measure.
How do you serve and drink Bosnian coffee?
It’s served on a copper tray: the džezva, a fildžan for each person, sugar cubes, a piece of rahat lokum (Turkish delight) and a glass of water. You pour your own coffee from the džezva into the fildžan. To sweeten it, dip a sugar cube briefly in the coffee, bite off the wet corner, then sip the coffee. Some people instead hold a bitten piece under the tongue and sip the coffee through it. You don’t stir the sugar in. BBC Travel notes that, unlike in Turkey, the coffee usually arrives in a full džezva rather than a single cup. It’s a slow drink, for talking over.
What is the foam on Bosnian coffee?
The foam that rises as the coffee heats is called kajmak in Bosnia. You lift the džezva off the heat as it climbs, so it doesn’t boil over. Pour gently to keep some on each cup.
General guidance only. Take care with boiling water and the hot džezva, which can boil over in seconds.
Bosnian coffee vs other methods
- Turkish coffee: coffee and cold water heated together in a cezve.
- Greek coffee: made in a briki, ordered by sweetness.
- Armenian soorj: Armenia’s coffee, sometimes with cardamom.
- Cypriot coffee: Cyprus’s version.
Explore every boiled method in the boiled chapter.
Questions & answers
How is Bosnian coffee different from Turkish coffee?
Bosnian coffee heats the water first and adds the coffee afterwards, off the heat. Turkish coffee starts the coffee and cold water together. In Bosnia, sugar is usually not added to the pot: it's served as sugar cubes on the side.
How do you drink Bosnian coffee with a sugar cube?
Dip a sugar cube briefly in the coffee, bite off the wet corner, then sip the coffee. Some people hold a bitten piece of the cube under the tongue and sip through it. You don't stir the sugar in.
What is a fildžan?
The small, handleless cup Bosnian coffee is served in, usually on a tray with the džezva, sugar cubes, rahat lokum and a glass of water.
What is kajmak on Bosnian coffee?
The foam that rises on the coffee as it heats. You lift the džezva off the heat as it climbs, before it boils over.
Do you add sugar to Bosnian coffee?
Usually not in the pot. Sources disagree, and some recipes do, but the common Bosnian custom is to serve sugar cubes on the side so each person chooses.
Sources
- The complicated culture of Bosnian coffee. BBC Travel
- Learning the art of Bosnian coffee. The Yale Globalist
- Bosnian coffee: how it’s made and how to drink it. Food House Mostar
- Bosnian coffee: how to make it in a džezva. Lezzet Coffee
- What’s the difference between Turkish coffee and Bosnian coffee?. Spiral of Tillaux
- Bosnian coffee ritual: culture, history and how to make it. Visit My Country
General guidance only. Not medical, food-safety or professional advice. Always follow your equipment's own instructions.