How Turkish coffee earned its place in specialty coffee

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Key takeaways

The cezve is one of the world’s oldest brewing methods still used today.
Turkish coffee culture was designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in 2013.
Specialty coffee is rediscovering the cezve‘s body and flavour complexity.
The World Cezve/Ibrik Championship has brought global recognition to the brewing method.

A brewing method more than five centuries old is finding a new audience among baristas and specialty coffee enthusiasts worldwide.

The cezve, a small, long-handled pot also known as an ibrik or Turkish coffee pot, has long been central to coffee culture not only in Turkey and the Balkans but across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Eastern Europe. Now it’s attracting renewed interest from the specialty coffee industry, which has more commonly championed modern brewing techniques and automation.

“Take a small coffee pot, add water, finely ground coffee, stir, and let the mixture boil up just to the point where the grounds rise up to form a thick head of foam,” says Mehmet Kurukahveci, the grandson of the founder of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, founded in 1871. “Then slowly pour into small cups. Wait a little for the fines to settle, then enjoy a rich, satisfying brew.”

The recent embrace of traditional coffee preparation methods is significant. The cezve offers body and flavour complexity not comparable to most brewing methods, securing its place on the international stage. The World Cezve/Ibrik Championship, recently held at World of Coffee Dubai 2026, draws competitors from dozens of countries and has raised the brewing method’s profile considerably in specialty coffee.

For an industry that has spent decades looking forward, the renewed focus on one of coffee’s oldest traditions marks a notable shift. Thanks to the cezve’s deep cultural and historical roots, as well as its emphasis on ritual, it has earned its place in specialty coffee.

A history of Turkish coffee

Long before paper filters or espresso machines, there was the cezve, with origins dating back almost half a millennium.

Historical records place the earliest cultivation of coffee in Yemen in the mid-15th century. Arabica, grown just across the Red Sea from its wild origins in the Ethiopian highlands, was first adopted by Sufi dervishes, who used the drink during long nightly religious ceremonies. As the Ottoman Empire expanded into the region, it carried coffee back to Istanbul, where it would take on an entirely new significance.

By the 16th century, the coffeehouse had become a defining feature of daily life in Ottoman Turkey. Open to merchants, scholars, and citizens alike, these establishments functioned as centres of conversation and hospitality.

“It was here, in Istanbul, that Western traders, travellers, and officials started to notice the drink,” Mehmet explains. “In 1585, Gianfrancesco Morosini, the Venetian bailo in Istanbul, reported to the Senate: ‘The Turks drink a black water as hot as they can suffer it, which is the infusion of a bean called cavee, which is said to possess the virtue of stimulating the mind’.”

Some decades later, coffeehouses spread across Europe. “They would serve coffee prepared in a cezve or ibrik,” Mehmet explains. “In fact, many 17th-century London coffeehouses took the name ‘The Turk’s Head’ to signal that they served coffee, and their penny tokens (small change issued by each house) were often stamped with the portrait of a sultan or a hand pouring from an ibrik.”

European royalty drinking Turkish coffee.

**The cezve’s cultural significance**

The brewing method at the centre of ancient Turkish coffee houses remains essentially unchanged today. Across countries like Greece, Armenia, Bulgaria, and Iran, coffee prepared in a cezve or ibrik carries a meaning that extends well beyond the cup.

“Turkish coffee is an inseparable part of our tradition of hospitality,” Mehmet says. “It’s an expression of the sincere welcome we extend to guests.” In 2013, UNESCO recognised this significance by inscribing Turkish coffee culture and tradition on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

One company has sat at the centre of this tradition for more than 150 years. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, founded in Istanbul in 1871, is among the world’s oldest coffee roasters.

Before the company launched, most consumers bought green beans and roasted and ground them at home. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi changed this by selling freshly roasted coffee ground to a very fine consistency needed for the cezve. The company now exports to 65 countries and has become synonymous with Turkish coffee worldwide.

As Turkish coffee became more global, Western coffee drinkers moved away from unfiltered brewing. Mehmet explains: “Back then, grinding coffee by hand into the fine powder required to make a good cup of Turkish coffee was quite difficult and time-consuming. If not ground finely enough, the grounds will create an unpleasant, grainy feel on the tongue.

“Filtering may have been a practical shortcut for European coffee brewers not acquainted with the traditional craft,” he adds.

The UAE's Jane Esperante at the 2026 World Cezve/Ibrik Championship.

Turkish coffee emerges in specialty coffee

Today, the cezve has become a point of interest in specialty coffee in Turkey and beyond.

When prepared with care, baristas agree that Turkish coffee produces body and flavour intensity that paper filters would otherwise remove. Precise water temperatures, single origin beans, and controlled heat application have brought a new level of technical rigour to the ancient brewing method.

In addition to Turkey’s thriving specialty coffee scene, where many modern cafés brew with the cezve, the World Cezve/Ibrik Championship has helped formalise this shift. The competition has placed the cezve alongside pour over methods used at the World Brewers Cup.

The first edition was held in 2009 in Cologne, Germany, attracting competitors from Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Italy. However, many national Specialty Coffee Association chapters initially struggled to find enough competitors to justify hosting the event.

After Greece’s Stavros Lamprinidis won the 2014 competition in Rimini, Italy, he helped revise the rules to attract more people to compete. Since then, baristas from Turkey, Poland, Sweden, Hungary, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, and Ukraine have taken part.

World Cezve/Ibrik Championship competitors must prepare two drinks (a simple cezve/ibrik and a signature cezve/ibrik) within 15 minutes. The competition also encourages baristas to bring their own cultural twist or flair to their routine, helping keep the tradition of Turkish coffee alive.

How Turkish coffee continues to evolve

The traditional copper pot heated over sand remains the preferred way to prepare Turkish coffee, but electric machines have also emerged, making the brewing method accessible to more people.

“Since UNESCO inscribed Turkish coffee culture on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013, a new generation of coffee drinkers has been taking note,” Mehmet says. “While most Turkish coffee lovers will still prefer to use a traditional copper cezve, there are now also several good Turkish coffee machines that prepare a reliably good cup.”

From 14 to 17 May at the 2026 London Coffee Festival, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi will exhibit at booth G43, inviting attendees to experience the tradition and ritual of Turkish coffee firsthand.