Can You Use Instant Coffee or Espresso for a Reading?
Instant coffee dissolves completely, so it leaves no grounds and cannot be read. Filter coffee and most espresso are too clear as well. Coffee reading needs very finely ground coffee boiled with water and served unfiltered, such as Turkish, Greek or Arabic coffee, so a layer of grounds stays in the cup.
If you do not have Turkish coffee, grind coffee as fine as flour and simmer one heaped teaspoon per small cup in a pot. Let it rest so most grounds sink before you pour.
Drink slowly and stop when only a thick layer remains. Then swirl, turn the cup over and wait for it to cool, as described in the step-by-step guide.
Where it appears in the cup
Rim
Too thin a layer leaves the rim almost empty.
Middle
A good layer gives clear shapes in the middle.
Bottom
Too much coffee left in the cup turns the bottom into one dark block.
Frequently asked questions
Can I read espresso grounds?
Rarely. Espresso is filtered, so very few grounds reach the cup.
Is Greek coffee good for reading?
Yes. Greek coffee is made the same way as Turkish coffee and leaves readable grounds.
Symbols to look for
More tasseography questions
Reading the cup and your future
Positions, timing, money, faces, lines and bubbles in the grounds.
- Tea Leaf Reading Symbols and Their Meanings
- How to Read the Saucer in Coffee Reading
- Rim, Middle and Bottom: Positions in a Coffee Cup
- Dark vs Light Coffee Cup: What It Means
- Letters and Numbers in a Coffee Cup: Meaning
- Coffee Reading for the Future: What the Grounds Can Show
- Coffee Cup Reading Symbols for Money and Career
- When Will My Coffee Reading Come True?
- Bubbles in a Coffee Cup: Reading Meaning
- A Face or Silhouette in a Coffee Cup
- Lines and Paths in a Coffee Cup: Roads, Obstacles and Crossroads
Love, wishes and your own cup
Love, marriage, separation, wishes and reading the cup yourself.
Origins
Where tasseography comes from.
Rituals and customs
The small customs around turning and opening the cup.