Make A Middle Eastern-Style Coffee With The Help Of One Spice
For many people, a coffee routine is more of a survival mechanism for the day ahead rather than a peaceful moment to savor subtle flavors. A cup of Keurig coffee with enough vanilla creamer to mask any real taste might be your ideal caffeinated set-up.
Middle Eastern coffee drinkers have never settled for a bland morning drink, relying on various spices that are also found in many traditional meals or desserts to similarly flavor their coffee. One of the most popular of these is green cardamom, a plant pod in the ginger family that can be ground into a powder and added in with coffee grounds for a piney, citrusy tang. It's easy to find it ground or in whole pods at the grocery store, or you can buy the pods online. Just make sure you don't use black cardamom; it has a stronger flavor and is more typically used for savory dishes like stews or curries.
Every way you can add cardamom to your coffee
Traditionally, Turkish and Middle Eastern coffee is prepared in a cezve or ibrik, a small, metal coffee pot with a long neck. Coffee beans are ground along with a few green cardamom pods, and then the coffee is brewed with hot water. You can do the same using a regular coffee pot and an at-home grinder, or an espresso machine. It's typically served black, but you can add milk and sugar if the bitterness isn't for you. You can also infuse a latte with the flavor by using a cardamom simple syrup. Made the same way as other homemade simple syrups, you'll combine sugar, water, and crushed cardamom in a saucepan, heating and stirring the mixture until the sugar melts.
If you really can't find cardamom at the store but are desperate to try this trick at home, there are some good substitutes for cardamom. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, or a combination of all four can similarly add spice and sweetness to your cup. After you finish your Turkish style coffee, take a minute to look inside your cup before you stack your mug in the dishwasher. In some Middle Eastern regions, the arrangement of the coffee grounds left inside is thought to tell your fortune.
