# Dibek Coffee

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/dibek-coffee/
Last updated: 2026-10-20

> Dibek coffee (dibek kahvesi) is Turkish coffee made from beans pounded in a dibek, a large stone or wooden mortar, instead of ground in a mill. The pounding gives coarser, oilier grounds and a creamier, smoother cup. It's often blended with mastic, cocoa, milk or spices, and brewed like Turkish coffee in a cezve or, in some cafés, in the cup itself.

## At a glance

- Ratio: 1 to 2 tsp per cup
- Grind: Fine
- Water temperature: Heated to a foam, not boiled hard
- Category: Boiled & Traditional (Boiled)
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Origin: Türkiye
- Also known as: dibek kahvesi, stone-ground Turkish coffee, mortar-ground coffee

## Steps

1. **Put the coffee in the cezve**: Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of dibek coffee (or a dibek blend) per cup to a cezve with cold water, and sugar if you like.
2. **Heat slowly**: Heat over a low flame until the coffee foams up, without letting it boil over.
3. **Pour gently**: Pour gently into small cups, keeping the foam on top.
4. **Serve**: Serve with a glass of water, and let the grounds settle before you sip.

**Dibek coffee** (*dibek kahvesi*) is [Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/) made the way it was before coffee mills: the roasted beans are **pounded with a pestle in a dibek**, a large **stone or wooden mortar**, rather than ground. The pounding leaves **coarser, oilier grounds**, and the result is **creamier and smoother** than ordinary Turkish coffee. Today it's often sold as a **blend**, with **mastic, cocoa, milk or spices**. A few shops still pound it by hand: one on Cunda Island uses a 150-year-old stone and strikes it **10,000 times a day**. Here's what makes it different and how to brew it.

## The short version

- **Pounded, not milled**, in a stone, wooden or marble mortar.
- **Coarser grounds, creamier cup**, often lighter in colour.
- **Often blended** with mastic, cocoa, milk, date syrup or spices.
- **Brewed like Turkish coffee** in a cezve, or sometimes in the cup.
- **Still pounded by hand** in a few shops in İzmir and Ayvalık.



## What is a dibek?

A **mortar**. Before modern mills, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi explains, Turkish coffee was ground either in a ***havan***, a small cast-bronze mortar, or in a ***dibek***, a large mortar "handmade from wood, marble or stone", using pestles or mallets. Küre Encyclopedia says the word comes from Arabic and means "**pounding**", and Saki notes that grinding coffee in a dibek was common in Anatolian villages before coffee mills arrived.

## How is dibek coffee different?

| | Turkish coffee | Dibek coffee |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grinding | Milled to a fine powder | Pounded in a mortar |
| Grounds | Very fine | Coarser (Saki, Küre) |
| Texture | Thick, with foam | Creamier and smoother (Saki, Küre) |
| Colour | Dark | Often lighter (Küre) |
| Extras | Sugar, sometimes cardamom | Often mastic, cocoa, milk, date syrup, menengiç or spices |

Küre adds that dibek grounds settle more slowly in the cup, and that the coffee stays warm longer because it's so dense. Both Saki and Küre say the pounding keeps more of the beans' oils; that's a common claim rather than a measured one.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with fine highlighted for dibek coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#fine "Dibek coffee is pounded, so it's a little coarser than powder-fine Turkish coffee.")

## How do you make dibek coffee?

Like Turkish coffee. Saki's method for a dibek blend:

1. **Add 1 to 2 teaspoons** of dibek coffee to a **cezve** with water (and sugar, if you like).
2. **Heat slowly over a low flame** until a foam forms.
3. **Pour gently** into a small cup.
4. **Serve** with a glass of water, and often Turkish delight.

Some cafés do it differently. In **Gaziantep**, Turkish Travel Blog found the Tarihi Gümrük Hanı serving ***fincanda pişen Osmanlı dibek kahvesi***, "Ottoman dibek coffee cooked in the cup", made in the cup itself rather than in a cezve.

## Where is it still pounded by hand?

**İzmir.** In the historic **Kemeraltı** market, Anadolu Agency reports, third-generation coffee seller **İlyas Gönen** still sells coffee pounded in his grandfather's dibek stone. His grandfather pounded it by hand; in his father's time the family had **Turkey's first dibek-pounding machine** built, combining tradition with technology.

**Cunda Island, Ayvalık.** At the historic **Taş Kahve**, the third generation of a family from **Crete** pounds coffee in a **150-year-old dibek stone** their grandparents brought during the population exchange. Anadolu Agency says the beans are struck **10,000 times a day** with **30 kg pestles**, then sieved and brewed in **brass cezves**.

Elsewhere, Küre notes, dibek coffee is served especially in **Southeastern and Central Anatolia** at weddings, holidays and when guests visit, and ready-made dibek blends are sold in supermarkets.

*General guidance only. Some dibek blends contain milk powder, so check the label if you avoid dairy, and take care with the hot cezve.*

## Dibek coffee vs other methods

- **[Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/):** the classic, milled to a powder.
- **[Turkish coffee on hot sand](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee-on-sand/):** brewed in a tray of hot sand.
- **[Greek coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/greek-coffee/):** the briki version.
- **[Armenian soorj](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/armenian-soorj/):** coffee made in a jazzve.

Explore every boiled method in the [boiled chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/boiled/).

## FAQs

### What does dibek mean?

A dibek is a large mortar, made of stone, wood or marble, in which coffee beans were pounded with a pestle. Küre Encyclopedia says the word comes from Arabic and means "pounding".

### How is dibek coffee different from Turkish coffee?

The beans are pounded rather than milled, giving coarser grounds and a creamier, smoother cup that's often lighter in colour. Many dibek blends also add mastic, cocoa, milk or spices.

### Does dibek coffee contain milk?

Some blends do. Saki's glossary lists milk, mastic, chocolate and spices such as cardamom as common additions; Küre mentions cocoa, date syrup and menengiç. Plain pounded coffee is dibek coffee too.

### Where can you still find stone-pounded coffee?

Anadolu Agency reports on a shop in İzmir's Kemeraltı market that still pounds coffee in a family dibek stone, and a café on Cunda Island, Ayvalık, whose 150-year-old stone came from Crete.

### Is dibek coffee part of Turkish coffee's UNESCO listing?

Küre Encyclopedia describes it as part of "Turkish coffee culture and tradition", which UNESCO inscribed on its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

## Sources

- [Traditional tools](https://www.mehmetefendi.com/eng/turkish-coffee/traditional-tools)
- [Dibek kahvesi](https://test.kureansiklopedi.com/en/detay/dibek-kahvesi-edfc8)
- [Bu kahveye tadını taş veriyor](https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/yasam/bu-kahveye-tadini-tas-veriyor/404990)
- [Giritli ailenin 150 yıllık taşından çıkan lezzet: dibek kahvesi](https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/pg/foto-galeri/giritli-ailenin-150-yillik-tasindan-cikan-lezzet-dibek-kahvesi/0)
- [Dibek coffee](https://sakiproducts.com/pages/glossary-dibek-coffee)
- [Coffee houses in Gaziantep: menengiç and Osmanlı dibek kahvesi](https://turkishtravelblog.com/coffee-houses-of-gaziantep-menengic-dibek/)