A New Obsession-Turkish Coffee

Chazzano Coffee has gone to the dark side, but in a good way. We now serve Turkish coffee. We brew coffee at Chazzano Coffee Roasters in French Presses, Vacuum Syphon, Pourover, Espresso, Iced Pourover, and Toddy Cold Brew. We analyze the flavor profile when we brew coffee with the French Press- what is an ideal brew time? 2, 3, or 4 minutes? Well, it depends on the coffee and the notes that you wish to extract. Do you stir the coffee when it's brewing in the Vacuum Syphon brewer? It depends on whom you ask. We stir the coffee when it's brewing and when it's cooling down to fully extract the coffee flavor. We carefully cup every single coffee roasted at Chazzano Coffee to make sure that the particular brewing method brings out the best flavor profile.

However, Turkish coffee brewing is completely different from all of the other methods. I've been reluctant to tread on that path of Turkish coffee because there are so many different traditions of brewing Turkish coffee and they all reside in Detroit. For the Yemenite, Israeli, Chaldean, Albanian, and Greek and dozens more, the Turkish way is the only way. In addition, each tradition has different methods of brewing the coffee-sugar, cardamom, rose water, or pistachio grains. Some cultures boil the coffee 4 times, other 3 times. To stir or not to stir, that is also the question. I have finally found the courage to learn the art of Turkish coffee, despite the many acceptable ways to brew it.

I purchased an Ibrik (traditional Turkish coffee pot) and a butane burner. In all of the discussions about Turkish coffee, one question remains: What kind of coffee works best as Turkish? I have 40 different coffees and they're all fantastic, but what will work best as a slow boil, and quick boil 3 times? My first choice was Ethiopia Yirgacheffe because it has sweet notes of citrus and chocolate. You know my motto: Put sugar or cream in my freshly roasted coffee-what happens? G-d cries and an angel loses its wings. I was worried that black Turkish coffee wouldn't taste authentic. On the first try, it was the best cup of Turkish coffee, ever-smooth, with the usual grittiness, a fantastic aroma of citrus and chocolate. If you want an awesome cup of coffee, start with crazy fresh roasted coffee.

Kosher Coffee? Really?

If you are a regular customer of Chazzano Coffee, you probably know that you shouldn't bring food into the cafe and that I have a higher proportion of Jewish customers than other cafes. If you want an explanation about what kosher means concerning coffee, please keep reading. However, if you are now sitting on your porch in your pajamas, sipping some Ethiopia Yirga Cheffe, and noting how the lemony notes are dancing on your tongue, while the chocolate notes are covering your palate with a creamy euphoria, just put your tablet computer down, now...

According to the Jewish Bible, observant Jews do not mix meat and milk. No cheeseburgers, no veal cutlet parmigiano. There is a prohibition in the Torah (Jewish Bible), "Do not cook a kid (baby goat) in it's mother's milk." Over thousands of years, the Rabbis developed more laws to protect the basic sentiment of the law. Jews are also prohibited from eating anything from a pig or any fish that doesn't have scales and fins. No pork, no shellfish, no meat and milk on the same plate. Hey Frank! What does this have to do with coffee? I'm glad that you asked.

Chazzano Coffee Roasters is supervised by the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Metro Detroit. This Kosher authority is the highest authority in the land because they are the most strict. Judaism contains the concept of a slippery slope- if you cut corners, eventually you'll cut more than that. Traditional Judaism teaches us put a wall around the Torah and Jewish Law. Chazzano is considered Kosher, because we follow the following Jewish laws found in Jewish tradition.

*We are not open on the holiest days of the year including the Jewish Sabbath (from Friday night to Saturday night).

* All food brought into Chazzano Coffee has the highest level of kosher supervision by some Orthodox Jewish authority.

* We do not flavor our coffee, therefore there is no possibility that our coffee which is just a roasted seed from a coffee tree, has touched non-kosher food.

* All outside products made for Chazzano Coffee is supervised by an Orthodox Rabbi from the supervising kosher authority.

Why does an Italian-American Jew with a Jewish mother and Italian father keep Kosher?

It is a way to strengthen my communication with G-d.

Chazzano Coffee is certified Kosher and Kosher for Passover.

Good Coffee Makes You Sing.