Armenian coffee: A soorj of delight. (With VIDEO!)

Like so many adult indulgences, Armenian coffee is an acquired taste — and I’m glad I finally acquired it, although it’s only an occasional treat now because I managed to consume about four lifetimes’ worth of caffeine during my years in the newspaper business.

Sadly, I squandered my ration by guzzling mug after mug of weak and tasteless American coffee made in machines where the water and coffee grounds pass by each other like strangers on fast-moving trains, never even getting friendly much less intimate.

Properly made, Armenian coffee demands a bit more time and all of your attention. The result is definitely worthwhile.

Truth in brewing: Everyone I knew as a kid, including my father, called it Turkish coffee. There’s no point arguing about whether Armenians or Turks invented it because we’d both lose. Coffee was most likely brought to the Near East by the Arabs, who carried the beans from North Africa.

The common element in coffee from Greece to the Middle East is that the beans are ground so finely that they turn nearly to powder. If you can’t find the proper grind in a Middle Eastern store, you need to grind your own with a device that can produce the right consistency.

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Armenian Coffee (Soorj)

Armenian coffee is an acquired taste that when properly made, takes time and all of your attention. The result is definitely worthwhile.
Course Drinks
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Equipment

  • You'll need an Armenian coffee pot (available in Middle Eastern stores) or a small saucepan
  • Armenian coffee cups (or demitasse cups)

Ingredients

  • Coffee ground super fine
  • Water
  • Sugar optional
  • Cardamom optional

Instructions

  • Set the empty cups on a serving tray near the stove and place one cardamom pod or seed in each.
  • Pour one cup of cold water in the pot for each cup of coffee.
  • Add one generous teaspoon of coffee for each cup of water and stir thoroughly. (I like to add an extra spoon of coffee, but adjust to your taste.)
  • Add one level teaspoon of sugar for each cup of water and stir again.
  • Turn the heat on high.
  • Keep an eye on the pot. In this case, a watched pot definitely WILL boil — but an unwatched pot will boil over. Either way, you've ruined the coffee.
  • Critical point: The coffee mixture will begin to foam when it heats. As it's about to boil, the foam will start to rise to the top of the pot. Take the pot off the heat. DO NOT let the coffee boil.
  • Stir the coffee and place it back on the heat. Repeat at least once more.
  • When the foam rises a third time, the coffee's ready.
  • Pour a little coffee into each cup and continue until they're all full. (Don't fill one cup at a time or there may not be enough foam to go around.) Leave enough room at the top to add some of the foam. If the foam has dissipated before you're done, put the coffee back on the heat JUST until it foams again.

Video

Notes

Important! Do not substitute espresso. It won’t taste right.
Never add milk when serving — but, for a rich variation, substitute cold milk for cold water for all or part of the recipe.
Don’t be alarmed if the bottom of your cup has a thick, muddy coating. That’s normal. When you’re done with the drinkable part, try turning the cup upside down (in a saucer, of course) and let the sludge coat the sides.
In the Old Country, the wise old women could tell fortunes by “reading” the resulting patterns. If your fortune says you’re entitled to another cup, just heat the remaining coffee.

View Comments

  • Back in the day when there was a Yugoslavia, we took a Yugoslavian freighter across the Atlantic. The crew served what they called "Turkish coffee" as opposed to "American coffee." The Turkish coffee was darker and richer than the American (which was still very strong and black for our taste). But the Turkish coffee did not have grounds or any kind of residue. Perhaps they filtered it?

  • I don't know why anyone would strain the coffee, unless it's a local custom. Has anyone else heard of this?

  • The video is wonderful. I felt like I was experiencing the whole coffee experience -- minus the wonderul aroma.

  • I do this all the time with my great Grandparents' old coffee grinder. A brass one they brought with them from Turkey into Syria (and eventually to Canada)!

  • greetings fellow armenians.
    perhaps i missed this somewhere in this blogs.
    the ingrediants in armenian coffee. just incase i did here is my grandmothers way of doing armenian coffee (soorj). my grandmother bought the coffe beans raw (green)they were cheeper if you bought them that way. then roasted them till almost brown/black but not black then its bitter. after grinding it into powder, she then added spices to it. cardamom main spice in armenian coffee, tiny pinch of baharat (allspaice) and (not all the time)pinch of cinnamon, then she made the coffee as shown in douglas's video. sorry for the misspelling. hope this helps.
    menak paree.

    shant g. meeroian

  • After reading this I MUST have some now. Next step is a trip to the store for the ingredients. I absolutely love your website. I'm far removed geographically from Armenian family and ethnic stores here in Northeast PA...but for a trip to Jersey or NYC. Thank you so much for bringing all these recipes to life in my kitchen.

  • We're so glad to be of assistance! If you have any special requests, we'll do our best to fulfill them.

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