Greek Coffee (Ellinikos Kafes)

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Want to enjoy traditional Greek coffee at home? Fortunately, it's super simple to make! You only need three basic ingredients and a few minutes to whip up this tasty beverage on your stovetop.

If you want more delicious recipes, check out these recipes for brewing with a moka pot and making Cuban coffee. Check out our coffee snob's gift guide for some great gear to brew your own tasty java at home.

two cups of Greek coffee with Turkish delight

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About
Why This Recipe Works
Ingredients
How to Make Greek Coffee
Recipe FAQs
Serve
Expert Tips
Other Coffee Recipes
Recipe
Comments

About

The Greeks have a rich coffee culture in their country. Cafes are meeting places to sit and chat with friends over a cup of Greek coffee (Ελληνικός καφές) and enjoy a small dessert like Turkish delight. The drink is sipped slowly and savored.

This beverage was brought to Greece when Turkey occupied the country under the Ottoman Empire, and once Turkey left Greece in the 1830s, the locals opened their own cafes. These community gathering places have been a fixture in Greek culture ever since.

Why This Recipe Works

It's made in a briki. This tall, narrow pot is the traditional cooking vessel used to make this beverage. You don't absolutely have to use one, but you'll get a better foam on top if you do!
It's made with the right coffee. It's crucial that you use super finely ground beans here--not a moka pot or espresso grind. It's best to buy ready-ground Greek coffee such as Venizelos to make it easier.
It makes a good kaimaki. The kaimaki, or foam, on top of the drink is the hallmark of a good Greek coffee. Don't stir when the coffee boils, or you'll spoil the kaimaki!

Ingredients

You don't need any fancy ingredients to make your own Greek coffee at home! Let's talk about each ingredient.

Greek Coffee: This is the most important ingredient! You'll want to use a good brand that's been finely ground to an almost flour-like consistency. We used Venizelos (affiliate).
Sugar: All you need is standard white granulated sugar. The exact amount can be adjusted to your taste in future batches.
Water: You don't need a lot of water; if you're making two servings, you'll only need enough to fill two demitasse cups. We used filtered water.
Equipment: To make this authentically, you'll need a briki, which is a small copper pot with a handle, but you can also use a small saucepan if you don't have one. You'll also need two demitasse cups.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Greek Coffee

Gather all the ingredients.

Pour the filtered water into the briki, then add the sugar and coffee. (image 1)
Place over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. (image 2)

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat until it barely begins to foam. (image 3)
Divide the foam between the demitasse cups, then pour into the cups. Let them stand for 3-4 minutes to allow the grounds to settle, then enjoy! (image 4)

Recipe FAQs

What is in a Greek coffee?

It is made with only three ingredients: coffee, sugar, and water. It's unique because the drink is served with the grounds in the cup, but as long as you sip it slowly, you won't get any grounds in your mouth. That's also why the drink is traditionally served with a glass of cold water.

What's the difference between Greek coffee and regular coffee?

Greek coffee is brewed in a small pot. All the ingredients are mixed together and brought to a boil, then the mixture is poured into demitasse cups with the grounds still in the mixture. American drip coffee is brewed with quite a different process; the hot water drips through a filter filled with grounds into a vessel below. It's also quite different from espresso, which is a concentrated beverage made by forcing hot water through the grounds at a high pressure.

What is typical Greek coffee?

The most popular variety in Greece is Ellinikos Kafes, or Greek coffee. It's brewed by boiling water, sugar, and superfine coffee in a small pot called a briki, then it's poured into demitasse cups and sipped slowly.

Is Greek coffee stronger than espresso?

Greek coffee is brewed very differently from espresso, and has a much lower caffeine content. Espresso is brewed by forcing hot water through grounds at a high pressure, while the Greek favorite is simply boiled in a pot.

Serve

It's traditional to serve this drink with a glass of cold water in case some grounds get in your mouth. Also, try serving this beverage with a spoon sweet, Greek delight (very similar to Turkish delight), or some other sweet treat.

If you're looking for other coffee drinks, you'll definitely want to check out our tutorial for using different brewing techniques! Learn how to make non-alcoholic Irish coffee, Cuban coffee, pour over coffee, and French press coffee.

two cups of Greek coffee with a briki and glass of cold water.

Expert Tips

There are different levels of sweetness. Unsweet (sketos) has no sugar, while metrios is lightly sweet (1:1 volume of coffee to sugar). Glykos is made with a 1:2 ratio, while vary glykos is made with a 2:3 ratio.
This recipe is metrios, which is lightly sweet. Feel free to try sketos, glykos, or vary glykos if you like!
Don't make more than 2 demitasse cups at a time if you want a nice kaimaki (foam).

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