Sand Coffee: How Turkish Coffee Is Brewed in Hot Sand

Sand coffee is a way of brewing Turkish coffee in a cezve partly buried in hot sand. The sand is heated to 190 to 200 °C (374 to 392 °F) and heats the pot from all sides. Each cup of sand coffee uses at least 7 g (0.25 oz) of very finely ground coffee. Slow, even heat lets a thick foam called köpük form on top. Brewing takes 5 steps, from heating the sand to pouring into small cups. A sand coffee machine heats cezves in a basin of sand. Tasting accounts describe sand coffee as bold and strong, with a slight earthiness. The method is traced to the 16th century Ottoman Empire and stays popular in Turkey today.

What Is Sand Coffee?

Sand coffee is a brewing method in which a cezve is partly buried in heated sand. Sand coffee is a way of brewing, not a coffee roast or a bean type. The heated sand serves as the heat source.

The Turkish name for sand coffee is kumda kahve, which means coffee in sand.

Köpük is the thick, velvety foam on top of a cup made by the sand method.

How Is Sand Coffee Related to Turkish Coffee?

Sand coffee is related to Turkish coffee because hot sand is one traditional heat source for Turkish coffee. Turkish sand coffee shares most tools and ingredients with regular Turkish coffee, except the sand.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization inscribed Turkish coffee culture and tradition on its Representative List in 2013. The nomination text describes slow brewing on a stove to produce foam and never mentions sand.

How Does Sand Coffee Work?

In sand coffee, hot sand surrounds the cezve and heats the pot from all sides. The sand layer in sand coffee works as a buffer between the burner and the cezve. That buffer removes hot spots and keeps the temperature steady.

The sand layer is dry sand, a poor conductor that stores heat. Dry sand releases heat slowly and evens out spikes from the flame below.

With the cezve set shallow in medium-heat sand, the first bubbles appear after about 8 minutes. Coffee in a cezve set deep in hot sand can boil almost at once. Pushing the cezve deeper raises the heat, and pulling it up toward the surface lowers it. The sand bed therefore works like an adjustable double boiler.

Cezve movement gives the brewer a second control. The brewer slides the cezve across the sand to reach hotter or cooler zones as the coffee nears a boil.

Why Is Turkish Coffee Made in Sand?

Turkish coffee is made in sand because the even heat of sand prevents scorching and fast boil-overs. Turkish coffee heated slowly in sand forms köpük while the coffee stays below a rolling boil.

The sand helps stop the grounds from sticking to the bottom of the cezve.

Sand brewing is fast once the sand is hot, because the coffee in each cezve foams up almost immediately. A cafe using sand can serve many cups quickly.

Sand brewing in front of guests shows the skill of the brewer. Cafes and events use sand brewing as a performance for that reason.

Sand brewing replaced brazier brewing over coal ash, which produced kül kahvesi, or ash coffee. Some Turkish companies produced sand heaters to copy that brazier heat.

How Hot Is the Sand for Sand Coffee?

The sand for sand coffee is usually heated to 190 to 200 °C (374 to 392 °F). Hot sand in a home tray or skillet on a stovetop is held at about 380 °F (193 °C).

Coffee brewed in sand below that range is under-extracted. Sand above that range can burn the foam and make the coffee taste bitter.

Sand right above the flame or heating element is hotter than sand at the rim and at the surface. The heat reaching the cezve therefore depends on its position in the pan.

The sand is fully preheated before the cezve goes in, and the burner is adjusted during brewing.

A probe or infrared kitchen thermometer reads the sand temperature. A hand held above the surface gives only a rough guide.

How to Make Sand Coffee?

To make sand coffee, brew fine coffee in a cezve set in hot sand and follow the 5 steps below. A Turkish coffee brewed on a hot electric sand heater takes about 3 to 4 minutes per cup.

1. Heat a pan or tray of fine sand over a burner until the whole bed is evenly hot. An evenly hot bed has no hot spots under the cezve.
2. Fill the cezve with cold water, very finely ground coffee and optional sugar. Sugar goes in before brewing and is not stirred in afterward, so the sweetness is fixed from the start.
3. Nestle the cezve into the sand so its base and lower sides touch the sand. That contact lets the sand heat the cezve evenly.
4. Remove the cezve just before the foam spills over, let the foam settle, and return the cezve 1 to 3 more times. Removing the cezve too late lets the coffee boil over.
5. Rest the coffee briefly so the grounds sink, then pour slowly into small cups. A rest of about 30 seconds in the cezve is enough, or 2 to 3 minutes in the cup.

What Equipment Is Needed for Sand Coffee?

The equipment needed for sand coffee is a cezve, a sand pan, fine sand, a heat source and cups. A sand coffee setup needs five items in total.

• Cezve (ibrik): A cezve, or ibrik, is a small long-handled pot with a wide base, a narrow neck and a pouring spout. Copper, brass or stainless steel cezves withstand the high heat of the sand and do not react with the coffee.
• Sand pan or tray: A wide, shallow metal pan, a tray, a cast iron skillet, a wok or a dedicated sand heater holds the sand. A wok or skillet fits a home stove.
• Fine clean sand: Fine sand fills the pan around the cezve and stays outside the pot. The sand never becomes an ingredient in the drink.
• Heat source: A gas burner, hot plate, charcoal stove or electric heater warms the sand from below. A pan needs one of these, while a dedicated sand heater has its own.
• Demitasse or fincan cups: Demitasse or fincan cups are about half the size of a regular mug. A traditional kahve fincanı porcelain cup holds about 90 ml (3 fl oz).

What Kind of Sand Is Used for Sand Coffee?

The kind of sand used for sand coffee is fine, clean sand free of impurities. Sand coffee brewers use children's play sand, fine aquarium sand or fine clean sand sold for sand coffee heaters.

Coarse sand and dirty sand heat unevenly and can leave burnt or bitter flavors in the cup.

New sand is washed and dried fully before its first heating. Washing removes dust, and drying removes moisture that would spit or smoke in a hot pan.

What Coffee Grind and Ratio Suit Sand Coffee?

Sand coffee needs at least 7 g (0.25 oz) of coffee per cup, at a 75 to 125 micron grind. A common sand coffee ratio is 1 heaping teaspoon of coffee per 3 fl oz (90 ml) of water.

A Turkish coffee grind is finer than an espresso grind and looks like cocoa or flour. Arabica varieties are considered best, although robusta or a blend is used too.

A second home recipe uses 2 teaspoons of coffee per 1.7 fl oz (50 ml) of water in each cezve.

Cold water at the start gives more foam.

Colipse sells no Turkish grind, so Arabica Blend whole beans ground extra fine at home suit sand coffee.

Can Sand Coffee Be Made at Home on a Stove?

Yes, sand coffee can be made at home on a stove in a heat-resistant skillet of sand over medium heat. A wok filled with sand to about 3 inches (7.5 cm) below the rim suits a sand coffee home setup.

A home setup with a wok on a gas or electric burner gives the same result as wood embers. Strong camping stoves can heat the sand too.

A home setup can skip the sand, because the same coffee brews in a cezve directly on a burner. The sand changes the heat control, not the recipe.

How to Handle Hot Sand Safely?

To handle hot sand safely, start by keeping hands out of the sand and holding the cezve by its handle. Children are kept away from the hot sand, and the pan is moved only after the sand cools fully.

The cezve and the metal around it get very hot, so both are handled with care to avoid scalds. The sand pan goes at the back of the stove during brewing.

A 2012 study by Pieter Vermaak at Frenchay Hospital found nine children with contact burns from hot sand. The study counted those nine cases among 296 burn cases over 3 months. All nine burns happened on sand where disposable barbecues had been used. The study found that 87% of the hot sand burns were partial thickness, often on hands and feet. Experiments in the study showed that sand can hold enough heat for a contact burn even after a prolonged period.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration lists sand among materials that contain crystalline silica. Crystalline silica is a common mineral found in the earth's crust. The hazardous respirable particles are at least 100 times smaller than ordinary sand grains. Cutting, grinding and crushing materials create those particles.

Cat litter is a disputed substitute for sand, because some litters contain silica that can cause respiratory problems when inhaled.

What Is a Sand Coffee Machine?

A sand coffee machine is an appliance with a metal or ceramic basin of sand for heating cezves. A sand coffee machine often has adjustable temperature control and room for several cezves at once.

A sand coffee machine is slower and less automated than an electric drip coffee maker. The sand coffee machine uses the slow, hands-on sand method instead.

Some electric sand coffee makers replace the sand bed with heated plates that copy its gentle heat.

Hovoli is the Greek name for a sand coffee heater, from the word for hot ash and embers. A hovoli is a heat source rather than a brewer, since the coffee is still made in the pot.

Does Sand Coffee Taste Different?

Yes, sand coffee tastes different, with a bold, strong flavor and a slight earthiness, based on tasting accounts. Sand coffee texture is thick and slightly grainy, because the fine grounds stay in the cup unfiltered.

Slow heat from the sand is linked to a smoother, less bitter cup than brewing over direct flame.

Common flavor notes include chocolate, nuts and a smoky edge.

In Jordan, cardamom is often added to the cezve for a warm, spicy note.

The sand coffee taste difference is based on tradition and tasting accounts. No controlled tasting comparison of sand and stovetop brewing is available.

Where Did Sand Coffee Originate?

Sand coffee is traced to the Ottoman Empire, where coffee became part of daily life in the 16th century. Some accounts say sand coffee originated among Bedouin desert communities in the same century.

Coffee was in use in Istanbul by 1539. Hakem of Aleppo and Şems of Damascus opened the first Istanbul coffeehouse in 1554, though some sources say 1551.

Early heat sources were hot sand from the desert or a fire pit, plus smoldering wood embers.

Where Is Sand Coffee Popular Today?

Sand coffee is popular today in Turkey, especially in traditional Istanbul coffee houses. Street brewers in Aqaba, Jordan, are known for sand coffee.

Similar sand methods are used in parts of the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans.

The cezve is still in use in Turkey and in many Balkan and Middle Eastern countries.

Specialty cafes outside Turkey offer sand coffee as a cultural experience.