In the heart of West Queen West, a trendy neighbourhood in Toronto’s West End, Shaunt Tchakmak runs a cafe and record store named Antikka with his brother Raz. For a vinyl buff, it’s sensory overload. For a coffee aficionado however, Antikka is a whole other level.
Antikka offers the standard menu of most cafes in the West End, but their specialty is Sourj, an Armenian Coffee, which Shaunt showed us how to make in the traditional style. Watch the video to see how, and see our recipe below to try this unique coffee preparation method yourself!
Shaunt’s Sourj Tips
Shaunt starts with the beans. He uses Kavat (https://kavatcoffee.com/), a coffee roasted in a modern Armenian style. Kavat was founded by Serj Tankian, who you may know better as the lead singer of System of a Down. Shaunt especially loves Kavat because not only can he brew traditional Armenian coffee, but he can brew coffee made by a musician. Even better to fit the vibe of Antikka.
The difference between Sourj and your regular morning coffee, is Sourj has only has three ingredients: coffee, water, and heat. Shaunt describes it as the first wave of coffee, for its simplicity. You don’t use any sort of filtration, or pressure to make the coffee. As such, the way you use the heat is very important.
Shaunt heats water and his coffee in a Cezve (pronounced as jezz-veh), a traditional pot with a spout and long handle, which usually yields one serving. He heats the Cezve on a bed of hot sand, which distributes the heat evenly, and makes the water boil quickly because the heat is surrounding the bottom of the pot.
Shaunt pointed out that any pot with a spout at the top will allow you to make
Sourj, and you can heat it on your stovetop at home if you don’t have a hot bed of sand handy.
The water boils begins to boil from the edges of the pot and bubbles form. Shaunt tells us to watch for the coffee folding into the center of the pot. He then removes it from the heat, taps the pot on the side of the stove to force the grinds to settle, and returns the pot to the heat.
Shaunt boils the coffee twice to extract extra flavour from the beans, while avoiding burning it. The coffee boils right up to the edge of the pot, and Shaunt swiftly pours it into his waiting cup.
What you’ll need:
Finely ground coffee
A tall pot with a spout for pouring - we recommend a Cezve
A stovetop or heating element
A serving cup
The steps:
Pour one cup (250mL) of water into your pot, and put it on your stovetop at high heat.
Stir in 1 tablespoon (15mL) of finely ground coffee, use more for a stronger, more flavourful brew.
Heat the coffee through, keeping a close watch on it, until bubbles form on the edges of the pot and the coffee begins to fold into the center of the pot.
Remove the coffee from the heat, and tap the bottom of the pot on a hard surface to settle the grinds.
Return the pot to the heat, it should quickly return to a boil.
Do not let the coffee boil over! Serve the coffee into your cup.
Enjoy!