August 26, 2026
Cyprus Coffee: How to Make Traditional Kypriakos Kafes in a Briki
Before the frappé, before the freddo, there was this: a small copper pot, a spoonful of coffee ground almost to dust, and a few minutes of patience over a low flame.
Cyprus coffee — kypriakos kafes — is the island's oldest coffee ritual, and it is still how most Cypriot households start the morning and end an argument.
What Is Cyprus Coffee?
Cyprus coffee is made from beans roasted dark and ground to an extremely fine powder, then simmered with water and sugar in a small long-handled pot called a briki.
It is never filtered. The grounds are poured into the cup along with the coffee, where they settle at the bottom. You drink the top two-thirds and leave the rest — a detail that catches out most first-timers.
The same style of coffee is found right across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, where it goes by different names depending on where you are standing. In Cyprus it is Cyprus coffee, and it is served with a glass of cold water alongside.
The Grind Is Everything
This is the one thing you cannot compromise on. Cyprus coffee needs coffee ground to a flour-like powder — far finer than espresso.
Ordinary supermarket ground coffee will not work. It is too coarse to stay suspended, the extraction is wrong, and you will end up with weak, gritty coffee and no foam.
Most home cooks buy it pre-ground for exactly this reason. Domestic grinders rarely go fine enough.
How to Make It
The method is simple, but the details matter.
- Measure with the cup you will serve in. Fill the small coffee cup with cold water and pour it into the briki. One cup of water per cup of coffee.
- Add one heaped teaspoon of coffee per cup, and the sugar now — not later. Sugar is always added before brewing.
- Stir while the water is still cold. This is important. Once it is on the heat, do not stir again.
- Heat slowly on a low flame. Slow is the whole point. Rushing gives you no foam.
- Watch for the rise. After a few minutes a ring of dark foam will climb the sides and begin to lift. The instant it starts rising, take it off the heat.
- Never let it boil. If it boils over you have lost the kaimaki, and the coffee will taste flat and bitter.
- Pour carefully, sharing the foam evenly between cups. Many people pour a little into each cup first to distribute the kaimaki, then top them up.
- Let it settle for a minute before drinking, so the grounds sink.
The Kaimaki
The kaimaki (καϊμάκι) is the layer of fine foam on the surface, and it is the mark of a well-made cup. Serving Cyprus coffee without it is considered slightly careless.
To get a good one:
- Use fresh, finely ground coffee
- Keep the heat genuinely low
- Do not stir once heating has begun
- Remove it at the first rise, before it boils
- Some brew it twice — lift at the rise, let it settle, return briefly to the heat
How to Order It
Sweetness is chosen at the point of ordering, because the sugar goes in during brewing:
- Sketos — no sugar. Strong and slightly bitter.
- Metrios — medium, one teaspoon. The usual choice.
- Glykos — sweet, two teaspoons or more.
There is a Cypriot saying that you can tell a great deal about someone from how they take their coffee. Make of that what you will.
How It Is Served
Always in a small demitasse cup, always with a glass of cold water, and almost always with something small and sweet alongside — a piece of loukoumi, a spoon sweet, or a biscuit.
The water is not an afterthought. You drink it first, to clear the palate, and again afterwards.
Reading the Cup
When the coffee is finished, the grounds left in the bottom are sometimes used for tasseography — fortune telling.
The cup is turned upside down onto the saucer, left to cool, then turned back over so the patterns in the grounds can be interpreted. Shapes are read as symbols; a fish means good news, a bird means a visitor.
Few people take it seriously. Almost everyone still does it. It is one of the warmest small traditions on the island.
The Coffee You Need
One of the island's best-known roasters, and one of our bestselling coffees.
A smaller bag — good if you are trying Cyprus coffee for the first time.
Made from Cypriot carob. Naturally caffeine-free, brewed the same way.
Browse all Cyprus and Greek coffee →
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use normal ground coffee?
No. It must be ground to a powder, much finer than espresso. Regular ground coffee gives weak, gritty results with no kaimaki.
Do you drink the grounds?
No. They settle at the bottom. Drink the top portion and stop when you reach the sludge.
Why is there no foam on mine?
Usually the heat was too high, or it was stirred during heating, or it boiled. Low and slow, stir only when cold, lift at the first rise.
Can I add sugar afterwards?
Not really — it will not dissolve properly and it disturbs the settled grounds. Sugar goes in before brewing.
What size cup?
A small demitasse, around 60–80ml. Cyprus coffee is strong and served in small quantities.
Can I make it without a briki?
A very small saucepan will work at a push, but the briki's narrow neck is what concentrates the foam. It genuinely makes a difference.
Is it the same as Greek or Turkish coffee?
It is the same style of preparation, shared across the region under different names. In Cyprus it is called Cyprus coffee.
Where to Buy Cyprus Coffee
We ship traditional Cypriot coffee — Charalambous, Laikou, Amalia — along with brewing equipment, direct from the island.
Browse the coffee collection, or take a look at our briki coffee makers.
In summer, Cypriots switch to cold: read our guide to making the perfect Greek frappé. And serve either with a piece of loukoumi.