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Turkish coffee

Turkish coffee

2 3.7
A strong coffee made by boiling very finely ground beans, not filtered and often with sugar
  • noun
  • /ˈtɜrkɪʃ ˈkɔfi/
translation icon : café turco
  • I'd be supping fresh-ground, fresh-brewed Turkish coffee at a resort somewhere rather than instant coffee out of a jar.
  • a cup of Turkish coffee
  • drink Turkish coffee
  • thick Turkish coffee

There are only locals here, and they serve Cypriot Turkish coffee.

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Examples

  • The chef served Turkish coffee alongside traditional sweets, enhancing the dining experience.

  • After a long day exploring the city, we enjoyed rich Turkish coffee at a local café.

  • We also had some Turkish coffee!

    Blog text (20)
  • Who advertised free Turkish coffee throughout the month of September and charged me for mine on September 28?

    Blog text (25)
  • The thick Turkish coffee would wake him up, in spite of the impossible hour.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Tons of coffee stations with Turkish coffee and tons of delicious dessert.

  • I saw the preparations for breakfast that invariably consisted of Turkish coffee and cold roast beef.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • When Mother returned on Monday morning, we found her hunched over a steaming cup of Turkish coffee, her eyes squeezed shut.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • There was the smell of Turkish coffee in the air, and of wet sidewalks and open dumpsters, and he walked straight past the alley before he knew it.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I'm a big coffee lover too and just love Arab and Turkish coffee—extremely strong, with sugar added.

    Blog text (9)

Synonyms

coffee
vsTurkish coffee
1.0

A hot drink made by brewing roasted, ground beans with water

is prepared by boiling very finely ground beans with sugar and left unfiltered

How Strong

Turkish coffee
2 3.7
espresso
88 3.2
coffee
1.0
drip coffee
1 2.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

Turkish + coffee

The meaning 'a style of coffee associated with Turkey' is directly and predictably derivable from combining 'Turkish' (pertaining to Turkey) with 'coffee' (the beverage). Although the precise brewing method (boiled, finely ground, unfiltered) is a cultural detail not specified by the constituents, a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it refers to coffee in the Turkish style.

Etymology

The noun Turkish coffee comes from an old Turkish way of making coffee, where very fine coffee grounds are boiled in a small pot and poured into a tiny cup so the grounds stay in the drink. One popular story says this simple image of a small cup with thick grounds explains why the name now means 'strong' and 'unfiltered' coffee today.