For decades, coffee has been a well-knowingly populous drink in Arab and coffee has played a crucial role in the Arabic culture and tradition as well. For that, coffee has been associated with Arab’s history.
In 2015 Arabic coffee was valued and proclaimed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity By UNESCO. Here we are giving you a bit of an insight view on how and why coffee has been so prioritized in their culture.
There is a proverb stated in Arabic and translated as “The first is served by the maker, the next cup is given to the guest, the third round is for appreciation and the last is for the sword or to show our protection”, in each part has its own meaning.
“The first is for the maker” meaning that the first cup of coffee made is for the owner to ensure the taste and protection and make sure that it is good enough to serve their guest.
“The next cup after serving the maker is for the guest” to show the generosity and good hospitality of the owner by which the guest also needs to show their sincerity and gratitude toward the host by drinking the coffee slowly. This also implies on some occasions like an official proposal.
When a man wants approval from the bride’s family to marry the daughter, he has served a coffee and he would drink the coffee only when his request has reached the approval and that is when the bride’s family tell him to have his coffee.
“The third is for appreciation”, the meaning of this third cup has improvised the enjoyment of the long visit that they have served and provided for each other’s companions.
“The last is for protionism”, by the definition of the sword it might be related to protection, by means the guest becomes a part of their family and they are obliged to protect, even though it has something to do with the sword. This shows that their relations are tied-up foresee as each other trustworthy.
Based on the Arabic history, swords are the things that they mostly used to protect, prevent and secure, so their bonds and strengths are tightened by the joys of their coffee.
It might be hard to find Arabic coffee in some regions, so if you have not tasted it, you should pay a little minute continuing this article to deepen down the understanding of this delicious coffee.
This type of coffee is well-known and most liked by the Arabian people called Arabian Coffee that is categorized into two, qahweh Arabieh (pronounced ka-h-wa) known as the Saudi coffee and the other one is Turkish-style coffee, their coffee is different from other coffee or American coffee on two particular main points.
The first point is focused on the roasted beans, they roast the coffee ground-beans till it turns into a golden brown which gives it more flavor that is rooted in the black coffee beans.
Secondly, is mainly about the infusion of cardamom which acts as nutrition that contains high proteins and calcium. This is known as a spice that is made from the seeds of several plants.
Even the coffee bean itself serves high nutrition, some people would still want to add extra flavors to the coffee. That includes ginger, saffron, and cloves in absorbing more aromatic flavors. The coffees are usually not so sugared, it has always been bitter and served in teacups and sided with date palms to cut down the bitterness of the coffee.
As mentioned above about the importance role of coffee in the history and culture of Arabs, there are also pots devoted to serve the coffees, and the pots are named Dallah, with their traditional it is designed as a white ceramic pottery or made out of cropper.
As times passed, the Dallah itself has transformed and developed with different designs in terms of colors, shapes, and sizes.
When anything is recognized as valuable, there are instructions to follow, so do the dedicated pots, Dallah, that they use to serve the coffee. So, here are a few points of instruction you may want to hear, in case you get to try their tradition serving coffee.
You need to use your left hand to hold the pot and the cups with your right hand, and when you hand over the cups to the guest with a smiley face to show that it is a pleasure to have them around, and also to show your generosity as well.
By any chance, you have lots of guests, you may start doing the instruction with the oldest first before reaching out to the youngest, and that is how you show respect to your guests.
You have to always observe their cups and offer to refill when they have finished their coffee already. And, if they do they will gesture to extend their cup, but if they do not want to, they will tilt their cup a little to the right side to show that they have had enough.
So, what is so good about this coffee?
The Turkish-style coffee and the Saudi coffee are prepared with perfectly roasted Arabian coffee beans. Their coffee beans are easily purchasable at any store.
The process of making the coffee begins with even choosing the beans in which the beans need to be roasted nicely heated fire and then put in a copper mortar and pounded with a pestle.
Then, the perfect Arabic coffee might need 1liter water, 3 tablespoons ground coffee and 3 teaspoons ground cardamom and some cloves. After having all your needed ingredients, prepare the stage and pour that 1 liter water into your coffee pot. Wait for it to boil for like 2-3 minutes.
Once it is boiled, add 1 tablespoon of ground medium roast Arabic coffee bean and boil it to 10-15 minutes with low-medium heat. Next, add a little bit of cardamom and cloves.
After 10 minutes, turn down the heat and let the ground rest for a bit, after all you may want to transfer your coffee into a thermo flask to keep the heat longer and the flavor stays as it is made.
However, the Arabian usually enjoy their coffee with small cups as mentioned above in their traditional way. Besides, if you want to add a little extra flavor of other spices you can also add ¼ teaspoon saffron and ½ teaspoon dried ginger.
Arabic coffee is purposed to be enjoyed by everyone from all classes of society, especially at home with family and friends. The knowledge and traditions of this Arabic coffee are spread and passed on from one generation to one generation.
In family, lectures, and general practice, this beautiful and generous culture keeps going on and on. They started young by accompanying their elders and observed how to select a good coffee bean.
Having Arabic coffee is a crucial part of Saudi Arabian culture and the Gulf region as it is daily consumed and also served for special occasions and parties as well. Though, we have not mentioned who first brought coffee to the land of Arabian yet.
In the 15th century, the Bedouin tribes have introduced Arabic coffee which becomes and continues to be an important part of their tradition and culture in the Gulf region until now. That is why the Bedouin men and women and owners of the coffee trading shops are recognized as the main bearer.
Final Thought
This Arabic coffee started in the Gulf region is unique and interesting enough. The story makes each of us attempt to give it a try. The flawless culture and the delicious coffee have passed down through generations with even more prosperity.
Some people may say, coffee is still coffee, what is so unique? But, that what non-coffee drinkers would say, But, the Arabian even take a careful focus on their coffee beans. That’s because it is a very important thing to push out the best result and the delicious coffee. The Arab nation has such a wonderful culture and history, so coffee is one of them.
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