# Lebanese Coffee Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/lebanese-coffee/ Last updated: 2026-10-19 > Bring water to the boil in a rakweh, add sugar if you take it, then stir in powder-fine coffee, 1 to 2 teaspoons per small cup, and a little cardamom. On a low heat, let the foam rise, lift it off, let it settle and return it to the heat, three times in all, without letting it boil over. Rest it for 3 to 5 minutes, then pour gently. ## At a glance - Ratio: 1 to 2 tsp per small cup - Grind: Powder (flour-like) - Water temperature: Brought to the foam three times - Category: Boiled & Traditional (Boiled) - Difficulty: Intermediate - Origin: Lebanon - Also known as: ahweh, rakweh coffee, raqweh coffee, Lebanese ahweh ## Steps 1. **Heat the water**: Bring the water to the boil in the rakweh, about one small coffee cup per person. Add sugar now, if you take it. 2. **Add coffee and cardamom**: Take it off the heat and stir in powder-fine coffee, 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup, and a little ground cardamom, or add a few pierced pods with the water. 3. **First rise**: Return it to a low heat. As the foam rises, lift it off before it boils over and let the foam settle. 4. **Second and third rise**: Return it to the heat and let the foam rise again, twice more, three times in all. 5. **Rest**: Turn off the heat and let it rest for 3 to 5 minutes so the grounds settle. 6. **Pour gently**: Pour gently into small cups, leaving the grounds in the pot, and serve with a glass of water. The first cup, with the most foam, traditionally goes to the guest of honour. **Lebanese coffee**, *ahweh*, is made in a small long-handled pot, the **rakweh**: **powder-fine** dark coffee, often with **cardamom**, brought up to the foam **three times** and then left to rest so the grounds settle. It's poured gently into small cups, and the first cup, with the most foam, traditionally goes to an **honoured guest**. It belongs to the same family as [Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/), with its own habits. Here's how to make it. ## The short version - **A rakweh**, the small long-handled pot. - **Powder-fine dark coffee**, 1 to 2 teaspoons per small cup. - **A glass of water** alongside. - **Cardamom** is very common. - **Up to the foam three times**, lifting it off each time. - **Rest 3 to 5 minutes**, then pour gently. ## What do you need? - **A rakweh**, sized for the number of cups - **Powder-fine coffee**, a dark roast or a dark and light blend (one Lebanese cook mixes 2 parts dark roast to 1 part medium), or Lebanese coffee pre-blended with cardamom - **Cardamom**, ground or as pods - **Small cups** - **Sugar**, if you take it ![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with the powder-fine end highlighted for Lebanese coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#powder "Lebanese coffee is ground to a powder.") ## How do you make Lebanese coffee, step by step? 1. **Bring the water to the boil** in the rakweh, a small cup per person, with **sugar** if you take it. 2. **Take it off the heat** and stir in the coffee, **1 to 2 teaspoons per cup**, and a little **cardamom**. 3. **Return it to a low heat.** As the foam rises, **lift it off** before it boils over, and let it settle. 4. **Repeat twice more**, three rises in all. 5. **Rest it for 3 to 5 minutes.** 6. **Pour gently**, leaving the grounds in the pot. Brew mode on this page times the rest for you. ## How much coffee, sugar and cardamom? The Food Heritage Foundation uses about **one teaspoon of powder-fine coffee per small cup**. Plant Based Folk uses **two heaped teaspoons** per cup and warns that less tends to give a flat, foamless coffee, so start somewhere between the two. For cardamom, one recipe suggests about **⅛ teaspoon of ground cardamom per pot**; Plant Based Folk uses a heaped ⅛ teaspoon, or **six pierced pods**, for two cups. Sugar goes in before heating, to taste. Many people simply buy Lebanese coffee **already blended with cardamom**. Because the sugar is in the pot, you're asked how you take it. 365 Days of Lebanon lists three ways: **seda** (plain), **murra** (bitter) or **hilwe** (sweet). At funerals, coffee is served *murra*. ## Why bring it up three times? Each time the foam rises, you **lift the rakweh off the heat** before it boils over, let the foam settle, and return it. Doing this **three times** is the traditional way to draw out the most flavour without letting it boil hard. Watch it closely: it can boil over in seconds. ## Cold water or boiling water? **Recipes differ.** Many Lebanese recipes add the coffee once the water has **come to the boil**, as above. Others, including the Food Heritage Foundation's, start the coffee in **cold water** with a teaspoonful per cup and heat it as slowly as possible, as for Turkish coffee. Both make good coffee; try both. ## How is Lebanese coffee served? In small cups, poured gently so the grounds stay in the pot, usually on a tray with a **glass of cold water**. The foam is often thought of as the best part, and the **first cup**, which gets the most of it, traditionally goes to the **guest of honour**. ## Lebanese coffee vs its neighbours | | Lebanese coffee | [Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/) | [Arabic coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/arabic-qahwa/) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Pot | Rakweh | Cezve | Dallah | | Roast | Dark, or a blend | Medium to dark | Very light | | Spice | Often cardamom | Usually none | Cardamom, often saffron | | Method | Up to the foam three times | Heated slowly from cold | Simmered, then settled | *General guidance only. Watch the rakweh closely, as it can boil over in seconds, and take care with the hot handle.* ## Lebanese coffee vs other methods - **[Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/):** heated slowly from cold in a cezve. - **[Arabic coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/arabic-qahwa/):** light-roast Gulf coffee with cardamom. - **[Armenian soorj](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/armenian-soorj/):** made in a jazzve, sometimes with cardamom. - **[Greek coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/greek-coffee/):** made in a briki, ordered by sweetness. Explore every boiled method in the [boiled chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/boiled/). ## Words used in this guide - [Roast level](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/roast-level/): Roast level describes how long and how hot coffee beans were roasted, usually labelled light, medium or dark. ## FAQs ### What is a rakweh? The small long-handled pot used to make Lebanese coffee, like a Turkish cezve. It's also spelled raqweh. ### Why is Lebanese coffee boiled three times? Bringing the foam up three times, lifting it off the heat each time before it boils over, is the traditional way to get the most flavour without over-boiling it. ### Does Lebanese coffee have cardamom? Very often. Some add ground cardamom or pierced pods to the pot, and pre-blended Lebanese coffee with cardamom is widely sold. ### Do you add the coffee to cold or boiling water? Recipes differ. Many Lebanese recipes add the coffee once the water has come to the boil; others start it in cold water, as for Turkish coffee. ### Who gets the first cup of Lebanese coffee? Traditionally the guest of honour, because the first pour carries the most foam. ## Sources - [Lebanese coffee](https://food-heritage.org/lebanese-coffee/) - [Arabic coffee: Gulf qahwa and the Lebanese cup](https://www.lezzetcoffee.com/blog/arabic-coffee/) - [Turkish/Lebanese coffee (ahweh)](https://www.feastmagazine.com/turkish-lebanese-coffee-ahweh/article_c257e69c-f748-11df-a551-0017a4a78c22.html) - [The finjein](https://365daysoflebanon.com/2015/12/30/1200/) - [Lebanese coffee](https://plantbasedfolk.com/?p=438)