Bosnian Coffee

Bosnian coffee is close to Turkish coffee but the method differs in detail and Bosnians will tell you so: water is brought to the boil in the copper džezva, a little is set aside, the finely ground coffee is added and returned to the heat to foam, and the reserved water is poured back to settle it. It arrives on a tray with a small handleless cup called a fildžan, a sugar cube, a glass of water and usually a piece of rahat lokum. The ritual matters more than the coffee: the sugar cube is dipped in the coffee and held in the teeth to drink through, the water clears the palate first, and the whole thing is designed to take an hour or two of conversation. Ordering one and drinking it in ten minutes misses the entire point.

Highlights

• The džezva and fildžan - the copper pot and handleless cup on their tray.
• The sugar cube method - dipped and held in the teeth to drink through.
• Baščaršija's coppersmiths - the alley where the pots are still beaten by hand.
• The pace - an hour or two of conversation over one small cup.

When to go

Year-round and at any hour; mid-morning and late afternoon are the traditional times. Baščaršija in Sarajevo is the obvious setting, though every town has its cafés and the ritual is identical in a village as in the capital.

Good to know

It is strong, unfiltered and there are grounds at the bottom of the cup, which should not be drunk. Asking for milk is possible but marks you out immediately. Cafés in the tourist heart of Baščaršija charge several times what the same coffee costs a few streets away, where it is also better. The copper sets sold to visitors vary from hand-beaten to stamped imports.

Nearby

Sarajevo's Baščaršija is the heart of it; the coppersmith alley is a few steps away.