Greek Coffee

In preparation for my trip to Greece, I learned that Greek coffee culture was like nothing else in the world. Every time I googled anything have to do with “travel in Greece,” the phrase “coffee culture” was always at the top of the search results.

I like coffee, so this sounded intriguing.

Most of the English-speaking internet sources that I found revolved around how to order a “Greek coffee” in Greek, which was a must-do for any visitor to the Hellenic Republic.

Greek coffee is actually “Turkish coffee,” but based on the decades of strained relations between Turkey and Greece, the traditional Turkish coffee that has been prevalent in Greece since the time of Suleiman the Magnificent was renamed “Greek coffee” in the 1960s. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Greek coffee was the only term used for this especially potent java.

To make Greek coffee, the coffee beans (usually Arabica) are ground very fine, and added to a side-handled copper pot called a briki.

Greek coffee pot, aka Briki

The coffee is not filtered, so it is heated with water and the desired amount of sugar in the briki until it forms the coveted foam that signifies a true Greek coffee. Sometimes the coffee is heated several times to create the desired height of foam. Most of the grounds settle to the bottom of the pot, but some of the grounds end up in the cup when the coffee is poured out. The foam is added to the cups first, and then the coffee is poured. If you want a little dairy, the milk is added after the coffee is poured into the cup. For a really good explanation of how to make your own Greek coffee, click here.

There are lots of Greek travel websites with explanations about how to order a traditional Greek coffee. I poured over them (no pun intended) before my trip. Below are the basics for ordering hot, traditional, delicious Greek coffee in Greece.

1. When you are ordering a Greek coffee, you need to specify the amount of sugar you like in your coffee, because it is added prior to heating, not after.

No sugar – sketo (as in “ena eelenika cafe skayto parakalow” – “a Greek coffee no sugar please”)

Medium sugar - metrio (as in “ena eelenika cafe metreeo parakalow” – “a Greek coffee medium sugar please”). BTW, before I ordered a coffee in Greece, I wondered how much sugar “metrio” referred to. I still don’t know, but I have always ordered Greek coffee metrios, and it has been the perfect amount of sugar every time. The magic of Greece!

Lots of sugar – glyko – (as in “ena eelenika cafe gleeko parakalow” – “a Greek coffee lots of sugar please”). Glyko means sweet, sort of like pulling up to the Dunkin’ drive-thru and ordering 4 sugars in your medium coffee. :)

2. In addition to specifying the amount of sugar, if you want milk in your coffee, you also need to ask for that. Traditionally Greek coffee is not served with milk, but since I usually drink my coffee with cream, and I wasn’t sure whether I would find it too bitter without, I ordered my Greek coffee with milk. And since I wished there had been clear instructions on the internet before I had the experience of ordering my first Greek coffee, here are the specifics for each sugar level, plus milk:

Milk and no sugar – sketo me gala (as in “ena eelenika cafe skayto meh gala parakalow” – “a Greek coffee no sugar with milk please”)

Milk and medium sugar - metrio me gala (as in “ena eelenika cafe metreeo meh gala parakalow” – “a Greek coffee medium sugar with milk please”)

Milk and lots of sugar – glyko me gala – (as in “ena eelenika cafe gleeko meh gala parakalow” – “a Greek coffee lots of sugar with milk please”).

I found to coffee to be smooth and delicious; the finely powdered grounds mixed with the foam gives it a special texture that is SO GOOD.

Drinking down to what I call the sludge (the wet grounds), is easy peezy, and as they say in Greece, nostimo (tasty)!

I can’t recommend Greek coffee highly enough. If you’re planning to travel to Greece, hopefully these ordering tips will help. If not traveling, get yourself a briki from amazon.com for less than twenty bucks and have some fun making Greek coffee at home!

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