I am always happy to respond to requests for postings on specific topics and one such request was how to prepare Arabic coffee. I will share with you my own way of preparing the coffee. To begin with it is ideal to have a traditional perculator type coffee pot. 
These pots may come with “internal gadgets” but remove those as you only will use the pot itself basically as a container. I usually fill the pot with about 3.5 cups of water (as the images illustrate, Arabic coffee cups are small so 3.5 cups can go a long way). After the water has reached a boil I will then add 2 heaping tablespoons of Arabic coffee. I will allow the coffee and water to boil for at least 15 minutes after which I will a tablespoon of ground cardamom. I prefer for the cardamom to be “loosely ground” as shown in the picture.
Again, let the liquid boil for about 5-10 minutes. Transfer the coffee into a traditional Saudi coffee pot and serve piping hot in the small Arabic coffee cups.
As a rule of thumb when wondering how much coffee and cardamom to add for tasty coffee it is usually two to one; two parts coffee to one part cardamom.
For those of you who are not in the Arab world and wonder where you can buy freshly ground Arabic coffee and ground cardamom, go to an Arabic grocery store and the ingredients would likely be available. If not, someone in the store could probably tell you where to go.
For my earlier posts which also provide information on the history of Arabic coffee as well as the social customs when offered coffee you may enjoy viewing the following: http://delhi4cats.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/history-heritage-coffee-and-a-kitten/ http://delhi4cats.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/coffee-or-tea/
Filed under: Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, culture, travel
You can buy the coffee that has the cardamom already added, we buy an-Najjar brand when we drink it like this. I am more of a latte person myself.
I personally prefer adding the cardamom as I believe it gives a richer flavor.
I LOVE Arabic coffee (kawa I think it is called-technical term for coffee) with dates. YUM YUM!
Another item I love is milk tea. I learned how to make it with my ex. We used Lipton and loads better hot and thicker with the milk.
Yes, Marianna – you are absolutely correct that the arabic name is kawa.
Speaking of dates, I never liked them until coming to the Kingdom. They are quite different from the typical packaged dates one receives in the States.
Milk tea (Kashmiri chi) was quite popular in Pakistan but I never did learn to like it. I like both my coffee and tea straight with nothing added!
Thank you Carol!! I searched your blog (to no avail) for your recipe. I keep trying and it’s getting better each time… But I’m having trouble getting the paraphernalia though. My pretty thermos with spout is not big enough for more than two. And I only have a set of cups for six..
[...] 4, 2008 Arabic coffee Posted in Uncategorized [...]
The best milk tea, is the kind made by Somalis…masha’Allah. They put cardamon and cinnamon in it, so you should love it Carol! I put a few cloves in mine and it’s good to go!
Thanks for the recipe. In Bosnia coffee is a must in gatherings, if you don’t drink it “something is wrong with you”! We make the turkish/bosnian coffee, the preparation is a bit different but from what I read here the result may be almost the same. There are several different ways, insha’Allah I may post a recipe on my blog soon. (Although I am not a big fan of it, to strong for me).
OK Carol: So where can I buy those beautiful traditional Saudi/Arabic coffee pots? Do you have a link to anyplace? I have looked and looked. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place.
Yes, I have seen them Safiyyah but only on the internet – I’m looking for a real live store. There’s probably more but try this one:
http://thedesertboutique.com/
Click on “household items” and then “arabic coffee items” but maybe Carol will start up her own ebay store for choice Saudi Treasures, lol!
Dalioness, are you following me around? Cheeky!
As usual, I enjoy reading your post.
So, it sounds like people drink coffee at night also.
It seems to me that would be a contributor to the late hours that part of the World keeps.
I found your comment on dates interesting as I am not a fan of dates, but have not had any “real” one before.
Aliyah – In a pinch one can even use a saucepan for making the coffee. It’s not the preferred but it will work since basically you just need something to boil all the ingredients.
Safiyyah – Most arab grocery stores around the world will sell coffee pots, coffee cups, tea sets and other items (like hookahs) in addition to the miscellany of food items.
Aliyah – Thanks also for posting the link to the desertboutique.com.
Mrs. Quigs – Dates is a large industry and there are even commercial stores here which sell nothing but dates – it is an experience to see one and all the selections. Additionally in Mecca during Ramadan one grocery store I went to had two aisles which were all fresh dates of different types on either side. I never realized until coming to the Kingdom that dates came in so many different varieties.
Dalioness – If I recall correctly, I think the bosnian cofee will look similar to arabic coffee but tastes closer to turkish coffee. Do you use the pot that has a long narrow spout in which to prepare?
Umm Adam – I probably will not be a fan of milk tea. I have had it when I felt I needed to be polite but I really have not acquired a taste for milk in general. However your way of preparing with the cloves does sound tasty!
I never really ate dates until I met my Omani partner and man I fell in love. When combined with kawa just scrumptious and during Ramadhan a staple (the dates) to break the fast.
I do have a set up tiny glass cups (with tiny handles) that came from Saudi. Very delicate and pretty. Love the presentation of serving coffee. There is an artform to it. I believe from what I understood the eldest (or in some cases the “most important” guest is served first and sometimes by the youngest member in the group and then goes on down the line.
American Bedu; thanks very much for providing the recipe! I’m really looking forward to suprising my friends at my next dinner party! Do you strain the coffee ? Or just pour carefully?
Luckily the dutch are nuts about coffee, so I can buy any kind of fresly ground, or unground coffee I want. We also have many places for excellent herbs, so that will be no trouble.
In the Netherlands people can’t start the day without their first cup of coffee, then breakfast. As they arrive at work, they need another before they can start, at 10 o’clock: coffee break, Lunch is also called ”coffee table” At 4 o’clock tea’break, but they drink only coffee. when they get home they first need a cup of coffee, and then dinner. dessert is always followed by coffee. And before they go to bed a last cup of coffee. And during the day offcourse extra cups of coffee.
You’ll notice I speak of ”they”: I’m about the only dutch person who doesn’t like coffee.
I love tea, but no prepacked brands, and no adulteration of the tea with stuff like milk and sugar!!!
I love dates, but you have to be careful here where and when you buy them. I only like fresh ones. Last time I just brought a box on the market and they were awful, and all sorts odd debris in the box. I fed them to my horse.
I’d love to see the dateshop. you get only about three varieties here.
Marianna – there are some exquisite coffee (and tea) sets here. Some of the Saudi coffee pots will have beautiful crystals embedded into them and with the gold pot, looks quite stunning. One can also get casual sets as well too. You raise a good point – the Guest of honor and/or eldest will be served first.
Aafke – I just pour carefully. One does not have to worry unless you are getting near the end of the pot and then there is the concern that the “grunge” from the bottom will come into the cup. Many coffee pots will have a strainer inside which helps prevent cardamom grunge.
I’m one of those people who usually have 4-6 cups of American style coffee before 10am. On weekends and in the evening I enjoy the arabic kawa.
Tea is also a process here. Most are like you, Aafke, and prepare unbagged tea although Lipton tea bags are quite popular here too. Speaking of tea, I so miss the Tazo Chi brand I was able to get in the States at Wegmans.
Oh, that’s too bad you had such a bad experience with dates! I hope your horse was able to enjoy them.
When we make coffee like this, which is rarely, I use the little strainer they sell for loose tea, just put it over the pot to catch anything that might come out.
American Bedu: my horse loved the first half of the dates, after a couple of days they became to old. His favorite hobby is eating. He is very fat at the moment but keeps trying to make me believe he’s in desparate need of food.
I have never seen Arabian coffeepots for sale here, only teapots.
I would love to have such a pot.
I want to see a picture of the golden coffeepot with crystals!!!!
I have no taste!
thanks man
Aafke – Your horse’s habit sounds similar to that of one of my cats!
If you have an arabic grocery store near you, that’s where you may ask for an arabic coffee pot. Good luck!
Yes, that’s all I have at the moment, my trusty saucepan – it’s just so hard to pour from it without making a spattermess, lol. Insha’Allah when I travel to Sydney I will look out for one there.
Dear Carol,
Yes, we use the ibrik, some call it jazwa. Its’ neck is not necessarily long, but yes, the bottom is wider and towards the top is narrow. Not as narrow as the arabic one you use for serving though. I will post a recipe on my blog insha’Allah, have a look (but I am sure you already know how to make it, smile.
Aliyah, hehe, no I am not following you around, silly billy, I like this blog too!! Do you want me to follow you around though? Wink.
dalioness, oh i’m used to it, i’m such a trendsetter, lol!
Carol, here is a picture of the typical old fashioned mill we use to grind coffee to this day:
http://www.natashascafe.com/images/category/groupmill.jpg
here is a picture of the cup (filjaan) we drink out of and the ibrik (jazwa) in which we make it and serve it(enough for two cups):
http://www.finestnycoffee.com/images/0000000.JPG
There are of course many different ones and different sizes, but just to give an idea of the typical old fashioned ones which are popular to this day. LOL, I remember when I was little, and all the women gathered, and usually the youngest one (newly married etc, silly tradition don’t ask why, it beats me), would be the one to grind the coffee, and I would beg to do it, and they would let me, but they would say “make sure you grind it well” as if though I did it with bare hands. And usually I would have to run it through twice to make sure it was nice and finely ground.
Dalioness: please provide link to your blog!
Aliyah, I just went to Desert Boutique. THANKS! They have exactly what I want! And I saw a lot of other stuff, too
Dalioness,
Thanks so very much for those great links and yes, you do prepare coffee exactly as I envisioned! And you must tell me where you are from as “silly billy” is a term commonly used where I’m from in Pennsylvania!
Aliyah – Yep…you are indeed a trendsetter!
Safiyyah,
my blog is quite new and I must admit rather boring ( I am a horrible writer), so if you want to be convinced (LOL) it is
http://dalioness.wordpress.com/
Carol, I live in Michigan, and actually I picked up the “silly billy” from Aliyah, who happens to be australian!!!
Aliyah, thanks for the link to the desert boutique; excellent! I saw a lot of stuff I liked!
I couldn’t figure out your avatar: I kept thinking of a bird and a boomerang! Then I saw it from the corner of my eye, and it suddenly struck me! How could I have been so silly! It’s very artistic!
My mom used to collect antique dutch coffeegrinders; they are wooden or metal boxes with a round metal grinder on top; you put the coffee in, start grinding, and then open a little drawer which will be full with ground coffee. I ground coffee and other stuff in them and they still work really well.
I love the plastic containers for keeping the coffee hot, the ones shaped like old fashioned castles and old fashioned metal pots, only with the vacuum bottles inside to keep it all hot. In KSA and in Doha they were inexpensive, and so much fun I sent them one year as Christmas. They were a great success
I think they were like $3 -4 each.
Have you been to a festival – I think it is January or February – called Janandriya (I’ve probably taken some liberties with the spelling) which has a huge area only for women, and has all kinds of traditional crafts and heritage things?
Yes; you are referring to the Janadriyah festival which is a year event circa Jan/Feb. It is the annual cultural festival and showcases the highlights of the traditions, customs, culture in food, song, dance as well as depicting the traditional crafts and way of life in the earliest days of the Kingdom.
This is a magnificent event but also an area which needs work. For example last year there was no ‘family day’ where a Saudi family could go as a family and enjoy the festivities together. Even though all the vendors, performers, etc., are men, segregation was still enforced which I believe was a mistake in these circumstances in the type of the event.
To me, not allowing to enjoy it as a family takes away some of the interest in the National Heritage. I am aware of families who chose not to go due to its remote location and the timings of “men only” and “women only” made it prohibitive to participate.
Afwah – you’re welcome (for the links to Desert Boutique). I have bought from there before (perfume and abaya), so feel safe to shop there, insha’Allah. I agree, they have lovely things there. Though like intlxpatr mentioned the thermoses are only about $3-4 (at a souq) so I am reluctant to buy from there just.
Thanks Carol for the compliment!
*smile*
PS. Aafke, I’m glad you did work my avatar out but also that it is not so quickly apparent either!
Hey, does anyone know where I can buy a hookah online ??
I have around 100 dollars i can spend
Hookahboysz,
I do not know an online site off the top of my head but where are you located? Most arab shops (even the tiniest) will usually have hookahs for sale. When I lived in the US, many of the arabic grocery stores had hookahs as well as CD’s of Farouz, Um Khutom, Mohammad Abdul, etc.
And you might also check out ebay for a hookah too.
Good luck!
Thanks for posting this info.
One question though, I was in Doha for a week and was served this arabic coffee…I really love it and asked was in it and they showed me the whole cardamom, cloves and another ingredient that looks like a pod or a bean but it was light green in color. Was that the coffee beans?
Also, why does it taste more like herb tea than anything else.
Don’t get me wrong…I love the drink and would really like to know where i can get the raw ingredients.
Thanks in advance.
That was indeed likely the coffee beans. Light colored beans are used and therefore that is why the color is much lighter. Interesting that you found it tasting like herbal tea but it certainly does have a distinctive flavor from instant or american perked coffee!
Where are you located Nel and we’ll see if I or another reader can direct you where to get the ingredients for your area.
Regards,
Carol
thanks,for the clarification…I was in Doha for vacation but I actually reside in San Francisco,Ca
Nel,
I am sure if you go to any Middle Eastern Shop in the Bay area you will be able to find all the fresh ingredients for tasty arabic coffee. And in the meantime, please enjoy some Ghiradelli chocolates for me!
Has anyone here ordered from Desert Boutique?
They were very timely in answering my inquiry emails. I then made an order. They charged my charge card that day. That was 1/14. I have emailed them twice inquiry about anticipated delivery.
No response.
I am freaking out. It was a large order, Ya Allah.
I know things take time, but they should at least respond to emails. Otherwise it gives a bad impression.
If I hear from them, I will report back to you all.
Safiyyah,
No; I have not ordered from them but have always been impressed by their web site and marketing. How frustrating for you though! I agree, they should certainly respond to your emails. Please do let us know.
Yes, the site looks nice and I havent seen it before. Does anyone know where I can purchase Arabic seating online? I have been looking but havent found anything.
Just a thought but have you tried Ebay?
Yes, I have. I am an rather avid E-bay user, but I have never seen Arabic seating there.
As Salaamu Alaikum AbuSinan:
start here:
http://www.justmorocco.com/cat_living.cfm
Or you can get someone overseas to send it to you. But if you’re like me, you like to see it first. Arabic seating appears to be very expensive.
phoeee, really expensive stuff.
Why don’t you buy a couple of nice IKEA couches you can attach to each other and just don’t screw the feet under, so they are flush with the floor.
This is incredible as here arabic seating is quite reasonable. Of course one can pay as much as they wish but you can get really nice and comfortable sets starting in the 5000 SAR range which seat 8-10.
Saffiyah,
Yeah, I have seen that store. We are more interested in the Khaliji floor seating. And yes, that place is VERY expensive.
We have thought about doing our whole house Moroccan. If we did this the plan would be to travel to Morocco pick out the furniture and have it shipped here to the USA. The whole thing, trip and shipping, would be cheaper than buying the stuff online and you get to see it first.
Safiyyah, assalaamu alaykum, yes I have ordered from there. I bought a head abaya and some beautiful perfume – I have kept the empty bottle to get the scent replaced if/when I go to Saudi/UAE again. It did take a long time (about two months) to arrive and email responses were few and far between to my enquiries on delivery time. I was getting worried. Just keep bothering them, and hopefully your things will turn up. My last email to her was something like, ‘I thought this was a website run by Muslims, please just at least reply to this. I’m starting to think that this is all just a big scam’ etc etc I got a response straight away and delivery soon after!
UPDATE:
LOL, Aliyah! Same thing happened to me, same experience. My last email to her was about how unIslamic her business practices are! She replied to my email, “ha ha ha ha ha you’re hilarious! Your order is in the mail.”
Ya Allah!
So, TODAY I received my order!!! After all those months. I, too, was worried, first time doing Internet business with them, etc.
I must admit that even though the thermos arrived broken, everything else that was unbreakable arrived in great condition, and Masha Allah, the things are awesome! So beautiful!
At least I now have a small dallah (I also won a big one on Ebay!). And I must eat crow and email her an apology for MY behavior at least. As a Muslim, I don’t like it when I get overly aggressive with other Muslims. Believe me, I had it with her and am ashamed of what I wrote in my email.
If anyone wants to order from them, prepare to be very patient!
Now, I will try Carol’s reciple!