Maltese Kafè Msajjar

What you need

• ~500 ml, added in two stagesWater
• roasted chicory blended into the coffee mixChicory
• 1/2 teaspoon groundCloves
• 1/2 teaspoon groundAniseed
• a small strip, no white pithOrange peel
• to tasteSugar
• ~28 g (4 tablespoons) of the pre-blended coffee mixCoffee

Method notes

Grind

Fine — for the simmered brew

Water temperature

Simmer, just below boiling — never a rolling boil

Total time

12 min

Steps

1. Blend the ground coffee with roasted chicory, cloves, aniseed, and citrus peel

   Maltese coffee mix is pre-blended before it ever meets water, so every cup carries the same spice balance instead of whatever dissolves from ingredients dropped in loose partway through.

2. Bring half the water to a boil in the stanjata, then lower the heat

   The stanjata's first boil is only meant to ready the water — the coffee mix goes in after, once the heat has dropped, so the fine grounds steep rather than scorch.

3. Sprinkle in the coffee mix and let it sit 3 minutes before stirring

   A brief rest lets the fine grounds and spice wet through evenly; stirring too soon just pushes dry pockets to the surface.

4. Simmer 5 minutes, add the rest of the water, then simmer 5–7 minutes more

   The second addition of water is what finishes the extraction gently — a hard boil at either stage scorches the cloves and aniseed and turns their aroma bitter instead of fragrant.

5. Strain through a fine sieve into small cups or a glass

   The sieve keeps the grounds, chicory, and spice fragments out of the cup, leaving a clear, dark brew — 'kafe fit-tazza' if it's poured into a glass instead of a cup.

Tips

• Blend the coffee mix ahead of time — coffee, chicory, cloves, and aniseed measured and mixed dry in a jar means every pot starts from the same ratio.
• Use only the zest of the citrus peel — the white pith underneath turns the cup bitter, so pare it thin.
• Serve it over ice in summer — the same brew, strained and cooled, is a common warm-weather version.

Common mistakes

• Letting it reach a rolling boil — every source on this brew repeats the same warning: a hard boil scorches the fine grounds and drives off the very cloves-and-aniseed aroma the blend is built to carry.
• Leaving out the chicory — most traditional accounts blend roasted chicory into the mix alongside the spices; a coffee-and-spices-only cup is a simplified modern version, not the full Kafè Msajjar.
• Overloading the cloves or aniseed — both are meant to sit in the background of the cup, not announce themselves; a heavy hand turns the coffee into a spice tisane.