In collaboration with Loveramics, Pierre de Chantérac, World Champion Barista and Coffee Director, has designed a cup dedicated to the preparation of Ibrik or Turkish coffee.
"In the pursue of making the best ibrik possible, I couldn’t find a cup that matches all the technical criteria, while being modern in approach and beautiful.
Ibrik or czeve is often associated with traditional equipment, shapes and designs. I have been playing with this method enough to know that it offers outstanding and refreshing results. I needed a cup to unlock this potential, a cup that everyone could embrace to discover what specialty ibrik is about.
So I connected with Loveramics with this challenging idea : to craft a modern, specialty driven ibrik cup. By playing with its shape, thickness and aesthetics, we managed to add a new dimension of what a modern Ibrik coffee can actually taste like."
credit : Paul Perret
4 key features
Shape
The wider opening enables the coffee grounds to sink at the bottom of the cup and to remain well settled, especially when drinking. The waves offer an extra layer of care, giving even more room for the grounds to be trapped and consistently ensure a clean cup.
Size
We found it to be the perfect quantity, from home brewers to coffee shops.
With its 110ml capacity, you can expect from 7 to 9 sips.
Thickness
Ibrik is meant to be tasted at hot and warm stages. When the coffee is poured into the cup, its temperature is close to 90°c. Interestingly, the thick walls help to absorb part of the heat, triggering a faster cooling down of the coffee itself. The coffee reaches a palatable hot temperature around 3 to 4 minutes, turning warm at 7 to 8 minutes.
Texture and colour
We now know very well that tasting is a multisensory experience. Things such as texture and colours have a huge impact on how we perceive taste. For this reason, the cup has a silky and smooth texture and is declined in pastel colours, that help with the perception of sweet, non-bitter flavours.
Each colour can be paired with a coffee taste profile, to enhance its perceived cup quality.
credit : Paul Perret
Competition anecdotes
To highlight coffees attributes, I aim to select cup colours that match the flavor profiles of the coffees I use. I strongly recommend trying this approach, as in my experience it can tremendously elevate flavors perception and balance.
Champion of the 2024 world Ibrik competition, Jordan Tachnakian used the pink colour to reflect the descriptors that could be found in his coffee, such as strawberry, cherry and vanilla.
Why i love Ibrik
Ibrik is a fascinating method.
First, it is a spectacular coffee preparation. Brewing ibrik has a mesmerizing effect. Witnessing the foaming process, pouring this hot creamy liquid and sipping a clean and vibrant cup once it reaches the perfect temperature is a truly unique ritual.
Then, regarding the extraction, it perhaps is one of the most modern and advanced way of brewing, according to what we currently value in the specialty coffee world.
Perfectly even extraction, as it is a stirred decoction. No channelings possible.
Highest possible extraction, as we use the finest grind size, and heat the coffee up to foaming point (around 93°c).
The sum of these results in the sweetest cups we can possibly achieve, fully integrated acidities, and coffee origin transparency.
Finaly, it is refreshing to add a gear that offers a complementary prism at what coffee taste can be like.
My recipe
11g of coffee, with the finest grind possible (preferably a lightly, filter like roasted coffee) + 90ml of water (preferably rich in minerals, like for expresso)
Extraction time between 1.15 ‘ to 2.15’, depending on the coffee used.
Optional : scoop the crema with a cupping spoon, to smoothen the first sip tactile sensation.
