You are hereWhy is Cyprus Coffee always served with water ?
Why is Cyprus Coffee always served with water ?
Call it a ritual, tradition, custom or habit but Cyprus coffee is an integral part of Cypriot life.
All Cypriot restaurants, cafes and taverns serve Cyprus coffee and any home you visit too, it would almost certainly be on the menu. A most familiar sight in Cyprus is to see a group of old men at little roadside cafes where they gather everyday to enjoy it with their mates and while away the day. Served black in small cups, demitasse, this unfiltered coffee is made from fresh ground beans. Like most coffees, it has a unique flavor and people addicted to it would rarely opt for another.
Now the puzzling part about Cyprus coffee is that it is always served with a glass of water. At first I was unsure what to do but then following example, I dutifully downed it, coffee first and then the water. Over the years, I have questioned people about the relevance of serving water with Cyprus coffee and have received various answers. For some it is to cool it down, some think it is to dilute the strong coffee, some do not like the aftertaste and sip water to clean the mouth, others just to rinse off the smell of coffee and the coffee yellowness from the teeth. Most, I suspect, do it just because it is done that way.
One very interesting explanation came from an intellectual diplomat. It is more a ritual than anything, he said. In earlier times since coffee was served to all guests and at all get- togethers, it was an easy means of poisoning. Adding water would react with the mixture in the cup and you could instantly detect the poison if there was any.
Anyway, the explanation was just to satisfy my curiosity. I enjoy drinking my glass of water with my cup of Cyprus coffee and would not dream of ever serving one without it.
To order your cup of Cyprus coffee in a restaurant, you have the option of ordering sweet, medium or sketos (without sugar). My personal favorite is a cup of ena metriou (one medium). You do not need to specify which coffee you want; some special things have some exclusive specifications only to themselves. Of course it helps to have the right atmosphere like to sit down on a beach side café on a sunny winter morning with a book, watch the sea and the sea gulls and drink your cup of Cyprus coffee. Can it get any better?
To make your own cup of Cyprus coffee is easy too. For each cup of Cyprus coffee, put a cup of water, sugar if you want and a teaspoon of Cyprus coffee in a wide bottomed, long handled pan. Put the pan on stove and bring it to boil. Remove from fire. Pour in a cup and allow it to settle down for a few seconds. It is sheer sacrilege to stir the coffee after pouring it in the cup as it agitates the entire residue at the bottom.
The residue at the bottom reminds me of another age old tradition in Cyprus. The sedimentation at the bottom of the cup, after you drank your coffee is not a waste! Well, it is used to read your future!! Many old women proficient in the art can do it for you. The almost empty cup is upturned on the saucer for a few minutes and the patterns that the residue makes speak to these old ladies, it seems, about what the future holds for the person who drank coffee from that cup…
Tags
Hi Vandana,
I read your interesting article and would like to tell you my understanding of Cyprus coffee.
The same coffee is also known as Turkish, Greek and Armenian coffee.
Your enlightened diplomat was indeed correct about coffee and poison.
I read many years ago but cannot remember where, that one Turkish Sultan was afraid that his enemies would poison him by putting it into his favorite drink, coffee. His physician told him if he was to take his coffee with water, I'm not sure whether he was to pour some water into his coffee, or drink it with it, the poison would show up.
Coffee from Ethiopia was brought to Turkey from Damascus by two men named Hakam from Aleppo and Shams from Damascus, where they set up the first coffee shop in Tahtalkala Constantinople in 1555.
Turkish proverb :
Coffee should be black as Hell,
Strong as death,
and sweet as love.
Continue to enjoy your coffee.
Cyprus is truly lovely.
Regards
Bob May
I have lived in Cyprus for 15 years and the reason for the water with coffee is.Centuries ago it was very easy to put poison in coffee without being detected. The water would bring the poison to the surface so they used to put a drop of cold water into the cup of coffee.
(name withheld on request)
You probably have the answer already but here is the medical one.
Medical fact: Coffee dehydrates the human system thickening the blood. To replace the fluid needed to keep the blood free-flowing and the internal organs, ie: kidneys and liver operating efficiently, a large glass of water should be drunk after drinking each cup of coffee; any type of coffee and also when consuming soft drink cantaining coffeine; eg: coca cola.
This is most important during periods of intense heat as experienced during a cypriot summer.
Regards,
Diane Best. (sports scientist, retired).
Limassol