Cypriot Coffee
How to make Cypriot coffee: powder-fine coffee and cold water in a briki, ordered sketo, metrio or glyki, heated slowly to a kaimaki foam and served with cold water.
Contents
How do you make Cypriot coffee?
Put one demitasse of cold water per cup into a briki with a heaped teaspoon of finely ground coffee per cup, and sugar for metrio or glyki. Stir, then heat it slowly. As the foam, the kaimaki, rises, take it off just before it boils. Pour into small cups and serve with a glass of cold water. Milk is never added.
At a glance
- Ratio
- 1 heaped tsp per demitasse
- Grind
- Powder (flour-like)
- Water
- Start cold, remove just before boiling
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Origin
- Cyprus
Method
Cold water in the briki
Measure one demitasse of cold water per cup into the briki.
Add coffee and sugar
Add a heaped teaspoon of finely ground coffee per cup, and sugar for metrio or glyki. Stir.
Heat slowly
Heat it slowly on a low heat, watching the foam build.
Catch the kaimaki
As the foam rises, take the briki off just before it boils.
Pour and serve
Pour into small cups, sharing the foam, and serve with a glass of cold water. Don't drink the thick layer at the bottom.
Cypriot coffee is made in a small long-handled pot, the briki (Visit Cyprus spells it mbriki), traditionally made of copper: powder-fine coffee, cold water and sugar, heated slowly until a thick foam, the kaimaki, rises. It’s poured unfiltered into small cups and served with a glass of cold water, and it’s ordered by sweetness: sketo, metrio or glyki. Traditionally, the briki was heated on a hovoli, a bed of hot sand. It’s close to Greek and Turkish coffee, with its own customs. Here’s how to make it.
The short version
- A briki and powder-fine Cypriot coffee.
- A heaped teaspoon per demitasse of cold water.
- Order by sweetness: sketo, metrio or glyki.
- Heat slowly, and take it off as the kaimaki rises.
- Served with cold water, and never with milk.
How do you order Cypriot coffee?
| Order | Sugar |
|---|---|
| Sketo | None |
| Metrio | One teaspoon |
| Glyki | Two teaspoons |
Milk is never added. The sugar goes into the briki with the coffee, so choose before it’s brewed.
How do you make Cypriot coffee, step by step?
- Measure one demitasse of cold water per cup into the briki.
- Add a heaped teaspoon of coffee per cup, and sugar to taste. Stir.
- Heat it slowly, watching the foam build.
- As the kaimaki rises, take it off just before it boils.
- Pour into small cups, sharing the foam.
- Serve with cold water.
Why cold water and slow heat?
In Visit Nicosia’s description, the water is measured with the coffee cup itself, the sugar goes in while the water is still cold, and the coffee heats slowly, building a foam that “rises and falls but never spills over”. The tricky part, Visit Cyprus notes, is taking the coffee off the boil at exactly the right time to keep the kaimaki, which it says starts from the sides of the pot and makes the coffee rise.
What is a hovoli?
The hovoli is a bed of hot sand on which the briki is set, the traditional way of making Cypriot coffee, as Visit Nicosia describes it. It’s the same idea as Turkish coffee on hot sand: the sand spreads the heat evenly around the pot.
How is Cypriot coffee drunk?
Slowly, with a glass of cold water. A good cup has a foam on top and grounds at the bottom, and you leave the thick layer at the bottom undrunk. Visit Cyprus calls it a characteristic part of the island’s coffee-shop culture, and notes that, traditionally, fortune-tellers read your future in the dried patterns of the grounds. In Nicosia, Visit Nicosia suggests a toast of “eis ygeian”, “to good health”.
A short history
Coffee reached Cyprus under Ottoman rule, which also spread it across Greece and the Balkans. The way it’s made is shared across the region; what has changed over time is mostly the name, with Greek, Cypriot and Turkish coffee each claimed as national drinks.
General guidance only. Watch the briki closely, as it can boil over in seconds, and take care with the hot handle, or with hot sand if you use a hovoli.
Cypriot coffee vs other methods
- Greek coffee: made in a briki, ordered sketos, metrios or glykos.
- Turkish coffee: made in a cezve.
- Turkish coffee on hot sand: the same sand heating as a hovoli.
- Bosnian coffee: water first, then the coffee.
Explore every boiled method in the boiled chapter.
Words in this guide
- Köpük
- Köpük is the Turkish word for the thick foam on top of Turkish coffee.
Questions & answers
How do you order Cypriot coffee?
Sketo is plain, with no sugar; metrio has one teaspoon of sugar; and glyki has two. Milk is never added.
Is Cypriot coffee the same as Greek coffee?
They're made in the same way, with powder-fine coffee heated in a briki, and served unfiltered. Cypriots have their own name, customs and ways of ordering it.
What is a hovoli?
A bed of hot sand used to heat the briki, the traditional way of making Cypriot coffee, like Turkish coffee on sand.
Why use cold water?
Traditional descriptions start from cold: Visit Nicosia says the sugar is added while the water is still cold, and the coffee then heats slowly, building a rich foam.
Where is Cypriot coffee drunk?
At home and in coffee shops all over the island. Visit Cyprus calls it a characteristic part of the island’s coffee-shop culture.
Sources
- Cyprus coffee. Visit Cyprus (Deputy Ministry of Tourism)
- Cypriot coffee recipe. Saki
- Café culture. Visit Nicosia
General guidance only. Not medical, food-safety or professional advice. Always follow your equipment's own instructions.