Greek coffee is made in a "briki". Brikia are small, tall coffee pots with a long handle and a lip. They are generally made brass, copper or aluminum, but stainless steel is becoming the most popular. They are fashioned after the small coffee pots used to brew coffee on the hot desert sands of the northern Mediterranean.
Greek coffee is generally made in three different ways:
Sketos - without sugar, strong and bitter
Metrios - medium, usually with one teaspoonful of sugar
Glykos - almost honey sweet
GREEK COFFEE (Common Method for 'Metrio')
1. For each cup desired, measure one demi-tasse cup of cold water into a "briki" or narrow-necked coffee pot.
2. Add one teaspoonful of Greek coffee and sugar for each cup being made. Stir well.
3. Bring to a boil over low to medium heat, stir the contents a little, until the coffee is diluted in the water. Hold the "briki" by the handle all the time as it boils so quickly and can make a mess. Watch the "foam" as it starts to rise. Let it rise. Don't panic and remove it from the heat until the coffee reaches the lip of the "briki". Remove immediately from the heat. Let the coffee stand for about 30-60 seconds and pour a little in each cup to distribute the foam or froth into all the cups.
4. Never stir the coffee once it has been made and served. Greek coffee is always served with a tall glass of ice water. |

GREEK COFFEE (The way Grandma/Yia-Yia used to make it)
1. Measure one demi-tasse cup of cold water into a "briki" or Greek coffee pot.
2. Bring water to a boil over low to medium heat.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of Greek coffee and 1 teaspoon sugar to the "briki" for each cup of coffee being made. (This is also "Metrio")
4. Bring to a boil again, and remove from the heat. Stir until the froth has disappeared.
5. Return "briki" to the heat and bring to a boil again, remove it immediately and stir until the froth disappears.
6. Bring to a boil one last time, removing the "briki" from the heat as soon as the froth reaches the lip.
7. Divide the "froth" among the cups and pour the coffee to the brim. Serve at once.
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