All posts tagged: dubai coffee

The rise of coffee in Dubai and the Gulf

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‘Coffee continues to provide everlasting fascination. As a subject of exploration, it has more plots, twists and turns than an ‘HBO box set’. As a coffee roaster and Q-grader who learnt the trade in Wellington and London, I (rather foolishly) suspected that I would be stepping into the  ‘café scene from the dark ages’ when deciding to move to the United Arab Emirates… I was wrong… Naively wrong. The Gulf countries have taught me alot about coffee and about the things you can do with coffee that I for one had never heard of: did you know in some parts of Syria they like to put a tiny drop of a sperm whale’s stomach mucus into their brewed coffee? Or that in Saudi they stir in sap from the Mastic tree? The Gulf’s fascination with coffee stretches well back into the bowels of history and it is thought that an Arabic philosopher wrote about coffee in 800 to 900 AD. Whilst some authorities claim that coffee originated from the Arabian Peninsula rather than Ethiopia, stating that …

Sabado Coffee Club 14

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Last month Sabado Coffee Club took place at a new cafe called Kaffa Bean Cafe, it’s based in Silicon Oasis, Dubai. We had another good selection supplied by some of the finest roasters from around the world. and when we finally picked our favourite coffee on the table – we had a dead heat between Has Bean and Counter Culture, but on the final count Counter culture won with a stunning coffee from Ethiopia.   Here’s what they say about the coffee… Haru Single-Farmer Lot Down the road from the Haru Cooperative in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, Olke Birre owns and manages about 12-hectares of land. Olke was one of the first farmers in all of Yirgacheffe to build his own mini-washing station, which gave him the ability to completely control the processing of his coffee. With this control—and his dedication to producing the best coffee possible—Olke and his family have created a coffee that is simply elegant. Look for clear flavors of citrus, peach, and jasmine. The Kaffa Bean Team brewed up our winning coffee through …

Sabado Coffee Club 11

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Sabado Coffee Club took a little break during Ramadan, but as the heat of summer begins to cool down, the kettles of Sabado Coffee Club begin to heat up again. Our last meetup took place at a little community focused venue called Mellow Yellow Café which can be found in an area of Dubai called Mirdiff. Sabado Coffee Club is held on the first Saturday of the month and is hosted by a different café space each time. Sabado Coffee Club presents fascinating coffees by interesting roasters which are brewed to taste. We then collect the votes to find the favourite and we make a filter brew of the winner for all to enjoy. Simple. This month, there were a number of new attendees, including a visit from a roaster who brought his coffees in from Jordan especially for Sabado. But after a lot of sipping and slurping of caffeine – we decided on a winner – the winning coffee was an Ethiopian Guiji roasted by Reuben Hills. Here is what Reuben Hills say about their coffee; …

Sabado Coffee Club Number Nine

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Welcome to Sabado Coffee Club. The previous Sabado Coffee club met at one of Dubai’s friendliest cafes. Friends Avenue Cafe is in the JLT area of Dubai and the cafe generously played host to a really interesting table of coffees. The winner this month was a speciality coffee roaster from Greece called Mokka. Mokka‘s history in coffee goes all the way back to 1922, so to say they are experienced roasters is an understatement. Mokka won with a beautifully complex coffee from Burundi which was selected by ‘The Cup of excellence’ as being outstanding coffee. With multilayered flavours of figs, prunes and green apple – the coffee really stood out to most of the Sabado crew. Some old and new faces came down to Friends Avenue. The coffees this month were a real mixed bunch – some from roasters in Switzerland, some from the Middle East, some from New Zealand and even a coffee grown in Australia. In fact here are the top coffees tasted; Sabado Coffee Club is happy to announce that the next meetup …

Sabado Coffee Club

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FNND is initiating a monthly coffee club in Dubai – the Sabado Coffee Club. Sabado Coffee Club was born out of a desire to raise the standards of Saturdays by attracting like-minded people who love coffee, food and flavours. Every first Saturday of the month Sabado Coffee Club will play host to a selection of fantastically dazzling coffees flown in by speciality roasters from around the world… some famous roasters, some new kids on the block and occasionally some Middle Eastern ones too. The set up is simple: take the best coffees from around the world cup (taste) them all vote the best brew it up You don’t need to have any specialist knowledge and each month we will give a quick class on cupping (tasting) coffee. Sabado Coffee Club is very informal and relaxed – it starts at 12 noon and lasts as long as people wish to be there, so turn up with a sore head, turn up without any sleep, turn up late or in your pyjamas… just turn up. The cost is 25AED per person. Sabado‘s …