Najjar Coffee with Cardamom 200g - Lebanese Turkish Style

This coffee is a darker roast, bold flavored and made from 100% Arabica beans imported from Brazil. To achieve a palatable taste, one must brew and drink it in traditional Lebanese or Turkish-style. These type of coffees are not for the faint of heart as these are usually brewed very strong, as strong as espresso if not more.

Lebanese Coffee is also known as:
- Ahweh or Ahveh 
- Kawha or Kaoha
- Kahva or Kahwa or Kah-wa

Requirements:

- Finely ground coffee, fresher the better
- Lebanese style coffee pot (as pictured)
- Regular sugar
- Filtered water, do not use tap water

Preparation Method:

Bring the water to a boil, lower the heat, add the coffee and stir it. Be very careful as the coffee may quickly overflow so you gotta be holding the pot with one hand and ready to lift it away from the stove if it overflows. From this point on there are 2 common methods of finishing the coffee preparation:

Method 1: As soon as you have poured the coffee into the boiling water and stirred it, it’s ready. Turn off the stove and let the coffee pot rest for 3-5 minutes before serving. In this style the coffee will contain some foam.

Method 2: As soon as you have poured the coffee into the boiling water, lower the heat, stir the coffee in, and hold the pot close but not right on top of the fire and then bring the coffee to a boil 3 successive times , without letting it overflow (overflowing can happen quickly so be careful).  In this method you’re basically getting rid of the foam by allowing the coffee to come to a boil 3 times. Once done boiling it, turn off the stove and let it rest for 3-5 minutes and then serve it. This is the method my mom uses often but feel free to experiment with the other method as well.

Tips:

– Try adding a bit of sugar to the coffee while boiling it. Ask your guests how they like their coffee: with or without sugar, since sugar is added during preparation, not afterward.
– The above recipe is for strong coffee. If you like your coffee lighter, or if you are not used to strong espresso-like coffee, you can use half a teaspoon for each 1.5 water shots.
– Try adding a pinch of Cardamon spice. Either buy your coffee with cardamon mixed in, or while boiling the water add a very tiny bit of powder cardamon to the pot (1/8 th of a teaspoon).  This will give it a beautiful aroma and flavor.
– You can try adding 2-3 drops of cold water to the coffee pot as soon as you remove it from the stove and then cover it with a small plate while you wait for it to rest. I don’t know what it is but the temperature shock that the cold water droplets bring seem to do something that alters the aroma a bit.