We serve both in the cafe and people sometimes ask which is “better”, which isn’t really the right question — they’re different drinks that happen to both be made of coffee.
Turkish coffee is very finely ground, almost like flour, and it’s simmered with the water (and usually sugar) in a cezve until it foams up. Nothing is filtered out, so the grounds settle in the bottom of the cup and you stop drinking before you get to them. It’s intense, thick, a bit syrupy, and it’s as much about the ritual as the flavour. The grind is the thing most people can’t do at home because a normal grinder won’t go fine enough.
Filter coffee — V60, Chemex, batch brew — uses a coarser grind and passes hot water through a paper or metal filter once. The paper takes out the oils and all the fine particles, so the cup is cleaner and lighter, and you can taste more of the specific character of the bean: the fruit, the acidity, where it’s from.
Roughly: Turkish coffee shows off the preparation, filter coffee shows off the coffee. We drink both.
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