Can milk or cream be added to Turkish coffee?

In today’s world, as with many products in the food and beverage industry, it has become very popular to make changes in coffee and diversify it with different flavors. These innovations can be seen as positive in terms of enriching the taste and options, but sometimes these additions can completely change the original or traditional recipe. And making such changes, especially in a type of coffee that is prepared with its own unique methods and stands out with its plainness, causes a completely different beverage to be obtained as a result.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand the reason for these pursuits. As is well known, Turkish coffee is a very intense type of coffee. And if intense coffee varieties do not suit your taste, it is unlikely that you will enjoy it. However, if by diversification we don’t mean changing the aroma, but simply softening the drink, such changes were actually made even during the Ottoman Empire, when Turkish coffee first appeared on the world stage.

First of all, the natural foam that is produced during the cooking process is actually a factor that makes it easier to drink and enriches the taste. However, the changes in our current cooking techniques and tools, as well as the lack of care in the coffee storage, make it difficult to obtain this foam and make Turkish coffee a little stronger than it would normally be. In this case, those who don’t like strong coffee or who want to change the taste of their coffee turn to cream and milk, the two main elements of coffee softening.

Turkish Coffee and Cream

Let’s talk about the cream a bit; first of all, we should definitely point out that Turkish coffee is definitely not a good match with cream due to its consistency and the fact that it is cooked with coffee particles without filtering. Of course, you may get a good coffee from the mixture of these two, but the coffee you will get will be a coffee that is far from Turkish coffee in terms of taste, but rather close to a latte. That doesn’t mean it’s bad coffee, but it does mean you’ll get any cafeteria coffee with cream, not Turkish coffee.

Turkish Coffee with Milk

Now let’s talk about milk: actually, cooking Turkish coffee with milk is not a new trend, it was something that existed even in the first years when Turkish coffee came into our lives. Although not known by many, the trio of Turkish coffee-Turkish delight-Water (sometimes cherry liqueur), which is the main way of serving Turkish coffee, is a way of serving that Hürrem Sultan, the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, brought into our lives. As a matter of fact, we were introduced to Turkish coffee at this very time, when Hürrem’s husband, Suleiman the Magnificent, was the sultan. However, Hürrem ordered that Turkish coffee be cooked with milk for her daughter Mihrimah Sultan, because Turkish coffee was a bit too strong for her, and since then, Turkish coffee with milk has started to take its place in our lives. Moreover, this way of cooking is even named after Mihrimah Sultan. In other words, the other name of Turkish coffee with milk is Mihrimah Sultan’s Coffee, although it is not known by many people.

But here, there are two very important factors for those who want to drink Turkish coffee with milk. First: Milk can not be added to Turkish coffee afterward. Likewise, it is a must to cook Turkish coffee slowly and in milk, just like when it is cooked with water. Another important difference is that when cooking normal black Turkish coffee, it should not be stirred much, or even not stirred at all after it is put on the stove. But when cooking Turkish coffee with milk, on the contrary, the coffee should be stirred continuously. The reason for this is that the consistency of the milk itself is denser than water and as a result, it is very difficult to soften or partially dissolve the coffee.

Just like black Turkish coffee, Turkish coffee with milk, which also has a very delicious taste, is a type of coffee that is appreciated by many and has a unique taste. If you have a taste that prefers strong coffees, Turkish coffee with milk probably won’t appeal to you much. However, it would be best to try this coffee and make your own decision regarding your preference.