True backgammon, or sheshbesh, is played in a "Souk" by older men. They sit and sip black, muddy coffee from small glasses.

You'll need to start with a totally different type of coffee. You can use this type of Turkish coffee. You can make Turkish coffee in a regular sauce pan, but it will be much easier to make using an ibrik, also called a finjan in some places.

1. Start with sugar. For each small cup, add one rounded teaspoon of sugar.
2. Fill the ibrik with water up to the narrowing, known as the neck.
3. For each cup, add one heaping teaspoon of coffee.
4. DO NOT STIR.
5. Place the ibrik on a heat source (your kitchen stove or, better yet, a camp stove.)
6. The coffee should start to foam soon. When the foam reaches the top of the ibrik, remove from heat and stir.
7. When the foam subsides, return it to the heat. Wait for it to foam again.
8. When the foam reaches the top of the ibrik, again, remove from heat, stir, and return to the heat.
9. Some say that the ibrik should be removed and returned only twice, while others claim that the ibrik should be removed from the heat, stirred, and returned to the fire as many as four times. I'm a personal fan of three times.
10. The last time you remove the ibrik from the flames, don't stir it. You'll be left with a nice foam which is a perfect topping to your Turkish coffee.
11. Pour some coffee into each cup, making sure not to take the last bit of coffee from the ibrik.
12. The last 1/3 cup will be pure mud, and should not be poured into the sink unless you have a garbage disposal. If you do not have a garbage disposal, throw the rest into a garbage can.

Drink slowly and enjoy! If you choose to add milk, please do not tell your Turkish friends about it.

There, now you're really ready to play Sheshbesh, the Middle Eastern backgammon.