Turkish Coffee on Hot Sand

Turkish coffee on hot sand, kumda kahve, is the old way of heating a cezve. Instead of a flame or a hob, the pot is pushed into a pan of fine sand heated from below. The sand wraps the cezve in heat, around its sides as well as its base, and the brewer controls the temperature by moving the pot deeper or shallower through the sand. The coffee itself is the same as Turkish coffee; only the heat is different. Here’s how it works.

The short version

• A cezve pushed into hot sand, not set on a flame.
• Even heat around the base and sides.
• Deeper for more heat, shallower for less.
• Lift it out as the foam rises, just before it boils.
• The same coffee as ordinary Turkish coffee.

How does sand coffee work?

A shallow pan, the kumdanlık, is filled with fine sand and heated over a flame. The sand acts as a buffer between the flame and the cezve, spreading the heat evenly, and because the pot is pushed into it, the heat reaches the sides of the cezve as well as the base. The brewer slides the cezve through the sand as it heats: deeper where it’s hotter to warm it quickly, shallower to slow it down as the foam rises. That fine control is the point.

How hot is the sand?

Sources rarely agree on a number. Tasting Table suggests heating the sand to about 380°F (about 190°C) and keeping it there, and Saki, which sells Turkish coffee equipment, suggests 190–200°C: cooler sand under-extracts, it says, and hotter sand risks burnt foam. Treat any figure as an estimate: the brewer judges it by how fast the coffee heats.

How do you make Turkish coffee on sand?

1. Heat the sand until it’s evenly hot.
2. Fill the cezve with cold water, powder-fine coffee and sugar to taste, as for Turkish coffee, and stir once.
3. Push it into the sand.
4. Move it through the sand to control the heat.
5. Lift it out as the foam rises, just before it boils. Some brewers let it settle and return it once or twice.
6. Pour gently and let the grounds settle.

For the coffee itself, use the same amounts as Turkish coffee: about 7 g of powder-fine coffee to 70 ml of water per cup.

Does it taste different?

The coffee, water and sugar are the same as ordinary Turkish coffee. Fans say the gentle, even heat builds a good foam and avoids scorching, because the pot heats slowly and evenly. Much of the appeal is also the spectacle: sand coffee is often made in front of visitors, in cafés and workshops.

Where can you try it?

In Turkey, cafés and tourist areas often make coffee on sand, and workshops in places such as Cappadocia teach visitors to make it. One Cappadocia workshop listed on Civitatis lasts about 30 minutes and serves the coffee with a glass of water and sweets. Sand coffee pans are also sold for home use. In Cyprus, the same idea is called a hovoli: a briki set on a bed of hot sand. As the newsletter Why Is This Interesting? puts it, the method is shared across Turkish, Greek and Cypriot coffee cultures, and it notes that UNESCO recognised Turkish coffee as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Turkey in 2013.

General guidance only. Heated sand holds a lot of heat and burns badly: use a proper sand coffee pan on a stable stove, keep children away, handle the cezve by its long handle, and let the sand cool fully before moving it.

Sand coffee vs other methods

• Turkish coffee: the full guide, on a hob.
• Electric cezve: a machine that makes Turkish coffee for you.
• Cypriot coffee: traditionally made on a hovoli of hot sand.
• Greek coffee: made in a briki, ordered by sweetness.

Explore every boiled method in the boiled chapter.