Das Orakel des Kaffeesatzes
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Coffee reading — also called tasseography when done with tea — is the divinatory reading of figures formed by coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup. It is one of the most living mancies in Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, the Balkans, and throughout the Levant.
The practice consolidated in Ottoman Turkey between the 16th and 18th centuries with the diffusion of coffee — kahve — which reached Europe via the Venetians from 1615. Reading Turkish coffee grounds became a social ritual, spread through the Ottoman Empire to Greece, the Balkans, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt.
In Brazil, the tradition arrived in the 19th century through Arab immigrants (Syrians and Lebanese) and Portuguese women who maintained the practice.
The reading is zonal: the cup rim = present, middle = short term, bottom = long term.
Works with any coffee leaving grounds. Ideal: finely ground, brewed (Turkish-style) or long espresso. Filtered coffee leaves insufficient grounds.
Traditionally small white porcelain — white facilitates seeing dark figures.