Coffee Brands

Naturally, one of the most important aspects of a good cup of middle eastern coffee is the type of coffee used. I've tried several different brands over the last few years. These are the ones I keep buying.

Your best bet for finding any of these is your local middle eastern grocery store.

Brand Style(s) Description

Cafe Beirut Blend Unflavored Turkish For unflavored Turkish coffee, this is the cream of the crop. Full, rich, and dark, with an almost unbelievably thick and abundant foam. However, the rich flavor has a hard time blending with any spice. I usually make this either unspiced or with a little sugar.

Cafe Najjar They make a few... The old standby. Their "Classic" style is perfect as a base for Turkish-style coffee spiced with cardamom. They also sell a version pre-spiced with cardamom... in general, I prefer to add my own, since you get more control that way. Check out their website

Loumidis Greek A blend of coffee and chicory. If you want greek coffee, this is the way to do it, since chicory is tough to track down. Useless otherwise, because the bitter chicory overwhelms any other spices you might want to put in.

Sahadi Middle Eastern Very much like Beirut Blend. Fantastically rich and dark. Foams up nicely in the pot, but the foam is difficult to transfer to the cup because it's so solid. In fact, I'm thinking the Greek method of brewing might work better for this coffee, because it tends to form a solid skin of foam on top if you let it foam three times as in the Egyptian method. Rich flavor overwhelms most spices.

Brand	Style(s)	Description
Cafe Beirut Blend	Unflavored Turkish	For unflavored Turkish coffee, this is the cream of the crop. Full, rich, and dark, with an almost unbelievably thick and abundant foam. However, the rich flavor has a hard time blending with any spice. I usually make this either unspiced or with a little sugar.
Cafe Najjar	They make a few...	The old standby. Their "Classic" style is perfect as a base for Turkish-style coffee spiced with cardamom. They also sell a version pre-spiced with cardamom... in general, I prefer to add my own, since you get more control that way. Check out their website
Loumidis	Greek	A blend of coffee and chicory. If you want greek coffee, this is the way to do it, since chicory is tough to track down. Useless otherwise, because the bitter chicory overwhelms any other spices you might want to put in.
Sahadi	Middle Eastern	Very much like Beirut Blend. Fantastically rich and dark. Foams up nicely in the pot, but the foam is difficult to transfer to the cup because it's so solid. In fact, I'm thinking the Greek method of brewing might work better for this coffee, because it tends to form a solid skin of foam on top if you let it foam three times as in the Egyptian method. Rich flavor overwhelms most spices.