Polish Coffee: Glass, Grounds and a Long Wait

For much of the twentieth century the everyday coffee in Poland needed no equipment at all. Ground coffee went straight into a glass, boiling water was poured over it, and the drinker waited for the grounds to sink before sipping around them. It is still made this way in many homes, and it is what most people mean when they talk about Polish coffee.

What it is called

The most common name is kawa po turecku, coffee the Turkish way, although it has little in common with Turkish coffee beyond the grounds staying in the cup. Nothing is simmered, no special pot is used and the grind is coarser. It is also known as kawa sypana, loose coffee, and less politely as plujka, from the verb to spit, which is a fair description of what happens when you drink it too soon.

How it is made

1. Put one or two heaped teaspoons of ground coffee into a tall glass, often one held in a metal holder with a handle.
2. Pour boiling water over it and stir once so the grounds are wet.
3. Cover the glass with a saucer and leave it for a few minutes.
4. Let the grounds settle, add sugar or milk if you like, and drink from the top without stirring again.

It is, in effect, an unfiltered immersion brew, the same principle as a French press without the plunger. The grounds keep steeping as you drink, so the last third of the glass is always stronger and more bitter than the first. The principle behind it is explained in immersion against percolation.

Why it became the national habit

The method needs nothing but a kettle and a glass, which mattered in a country where coffee makers were hard to come by for decades. Under the communist government real coffee was often scarce and expensive, sold in small packets when it was available at all, and making it without any equipment used every gram. The glass-and-saucer routine became as familiar in offices and railway station canteens as it was at home.

Inka and the grain coffees

When real coffee ran short, grain coffee filled the gap. Poland's best-known version, Inka, is made from roasted cereals such as rye and barley along with chicory and sugar beet, and it contains no caffeine. It became a staple in homes and schools and is still sold today, now often chosen deliberately by people who want something coffee-like in the evening. How roasted roots and grains stand in for coffee is covered in chicory coffee.

The cafes

Poland also has a long cafe tradition that sits alongside the kitchen glass. Krakow and Warsaw had literary and artistic cafes from the nineteenth century onward, some of which still trade, and the habit of sitting over coffee and cake runs deep. Since the early 2000s a strong speciality scene has grown in the larger cities, with local roasters, filter bars and competitive baristas, so a visitor today is as likely to be offered a carefully weighed pour over as a glass of kawa po turecku.

Drinking it well

• Use a medium or coarse grind. Very fine grounds stay suspended and end up in your mouth.
• Cover it while it brews. The saucer keeps it hot and helps the grounds sink.
• Wait before the first sip, at least three or four minutes.
• Stop before the bottom, where the grounds sit.

A medium or dark roast suits it best, because the long, unfiltered steep pulls out a lot of body and bitterness and a light roast can turn harsh. If you enjoy the style but not the grit, a French press makes almost the same cup with a filter between you and the grounds.