How to prepare the authentic Lebanese coffee

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About Lebanese Coffee

Lebanese coffee is Lebanon's perfected version of the Turkish coffee, also know as Greek coffee in Greece and Cypriot coffee in Cyprus...thus the best of all Eastern Mediterranean coffees.
It is part of the social tradition in Lebanon, when visiting friends or walking in a shop.
The coffee pot is always there, "ready to fire" on the clients and serve them the welcome magic drink, around which conversations, smiles, laughter develop, except indeed when talking about politics!
The coffee should be ground very finely to prepare the Lebanese coffee, more finely than that used for filter coffee, and it is advisable to mix Arabica and Robusta if you do not buy a Lebanese brand ground coffee, because in the latter case, the coffees are already blended from the best beans from Brazil and Colombia.

Lebanese coffee ingredients and utensils:

  • Ground Lebanese coffee
  • Water
  • An oriental coffee pot
  • A long coffee spoon

Lebanese coffee pots and how dosage is made

The coffee pot has to be "oriental" meaning conical, larger at its base and narrower from top.
It's called "rakweh" in Arabic. This is a mandatory requirement for the foam or "achoueh" to form at the coffee's surface.
Be aware that a Lebanese coffee with no "achoueh" is not a Lebanese coffee !!
For the same reason, the coffee pot can only be used filled with 3/4 of water reason why you need to have pots of different sizes and use the one matching the number of coffee cups you intend to do.
Use the following coffee dosage based on a well filled spoon as shown further below in the pictures:
  • 2-cup coffee pot: 2.5 spoons of ground Lebanese coffee
  • 4-cup coffee pot: 3.5 spoons of ground Lebanese coffee
  • 5-cup coffee pot: 4 spoons of ground Lebanese coffee
  • 7-cup coffee pot: 5 spoons of ground Lebanese coffee

Lebanese coffee recipe:

  • At high heat, bring the water to the boil. DO NOT add the coffee to cold water.
  • Once the water boils, remove from heat and add the Lebanese ground coffee.
  • Lower the heat to the max.
  • Gently stir the foam that formed at the surface of your Lebanese coffee.
  • Do not over stir, do not let the spoon go too deep.
  • Prepare the empty Lebanese coffee cups and have them at hand.
  • The foam of the Lebanese coffee will start increasing in volume and bubbles will show up.
  • Take out some of it immediately with the spoon and pour it in one of the cups.
  • Repeat with no interruption until you put 2 spoons of foam in each cup.
  • Once the foam is removed, the Lebanese coffee can be left boiling with no risk of overflowing.
  • Let it boil for 1-2 minutes.
Take out the coffee pot from heat and let your Lebanese coffee settle for 2 minutes.
Serve gently making sure the coming coffee is light brown i.e. it has settled enough.
Do not forget to let your lips produce the specific sound when aspirating your delicious and irresistible Lebanese coffee. It's in the tradition!

See also our other oriental coffee recipes...

...and buy your Lebanese / Turkish/ Greek / Armenian coffee pot and cups from our partners' stores: