When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I need is coffee. Yes, before I even brush my teeth, I need to brew coffee! And like every other coffee lover, I love to explore different blends of coffee from different origins. There are numerous types of coffee, french roast coffee, Italian roast coffee, dark roast, Arabic Coffee, etc. What is Arabic coffee!! In this article, we will know the A to Z of Arabic coffee.
So one day, I tried Arabic coffee, and I got hooked! The flavors, taste, the buzz, everything was so delicious that I am totally into Arabic coffee.
And while experiencing it, I discovered some luscious facts about it that I would love to share with you!
Therefore, here I am with all the details that I learned about Arabic coffee. If you are interested in this particular drink, you can get all the juicy details in this article!
So Guys Lets move!
First of all, we want to provide a history of Arabic coffee. We will present all the other information about Arabic coffee later in different paragraphs and headings.
The history of Arabic Coffee
According to the legend, in ancient times, a herder named Ali discovered that his goats ate some fruits from a bush and stayed awake for a long time. He collected those fruits and ate them for meditation. He stayed awake and could meditate longer than usual.
When he took those fruits to the monastery, they burned it down because they thought its some narcotics. But while burning, a beautiful aroma came through, and they gave it another chance. And that’s how we got to know about coffee!
Arabic Coffee is the traditional
Coffee is an integral part of Middle Eastern culture, and they serve it as a welcoming drink. But the coffees we drink in America are way different than the one they do. So the idea of Arabic coffee is poles apart from the one we have in mind.
The Arabic coffee “Gahwa” can be found in every Arab’s home. It’s not only a welcoming drink but also available for any time you want. They even drink it at night after dinner with their family. And this coffee recipe is quite different than the regular ones.
Welcoming guests with excellent hospitality is essential for Arabs. So when they serve Gahwa, they do it in the best way in the best way possible. They keep it in a specially made thermos that comes with elegant carvings and designs on it.
When a guest arrives, they serve Gahwa in a cup which is called Dallah. These serving cups are relatively superior in the household and only used for treating guests.
A hot cup of Gahwa is served to the guest with dates or any other sweet snacks. The Gahwa comes with a pretty strong and bitter taste as they are infused with cinnamon, clove, or saffron for flavoring and color.
The history of naming “coffee”
Most of us don’t know that the word coffee originated from the Arabic word Qahwa. In Arabic, the word Qahwa means high energy, and this particular word changed into the Turkish word Kahveh. And from this Turkish word, the term Cofie originated in Dutch.
So from the Dutch word coffee, we get the “Coffee” we have today. As you can see from the origin of coffee, it is evident that Arabic coffee holds a special place in every caffeine lover’s heart!
What’s the difference between Gahwa and Arabic Coffee
The difference between traditional Gahwa and other Arabic coffee is the variation in the roasting process. Regular Gahwa can be dark yellow or brown and more potent than any other Arabic coffee as they have higher caffeine in them.
Arabic coffee blends usually come made with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, or ginger. They use these herbs to make their coffee stronger and more beneficial. You will also find uses of these spices and herbs widely in their food recipes.
All these cardamoms, cloves, and saffron make the coffee taste quite bitter. So if you are not into experience different things, you might get baffled at first. But once you get the hang of it, a new door to caffeine heaven will open up to you, trust me!
Moreover, when you take all these herbs with this dark coffee blend, it helps you energize your brain. It also allows you to lose weight and healthily increase appetite.
But there are also some drawbacks to this particular coffee blend. Just don’t get addicted to it and avoid excessive consumption of this drink to avoid an unpleasant caffeine rush!
The serving style of Arabic coffee in the Middle East
The Arabic coffee “Gahwa” can be found in every Arab’s home. It’s not only a welcoming drink but also available for any time you want. They even drink it at night after dinner with their family. And this coffee recipe is quite different than the regular ones.
Welcoming guests with excellent hospitality is essential for Arabs. So when they serve Gahwa, they do it in the best way in the best way possible. They keep it in a specially made thermos that comes with elegant carvings and designs on it.
When a guest arrives, they serve Gahwa in a cup which is called Dallah. These serving cups are relatively superior in the household and only used for treating guests.
A hot cup of Gahwa is served to the guest with dates or any other sweet snacks. The Gahwa comes with a pretty strong and bitter taste as they are infused with cinnamon, clove, or saffron for flavoring and color.
The taste of the traditional Arabic Coffee:
Arabic coffee blends usually come made with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, or ginger. They use these herbs to make their coffee stronger and more beneficial. You will also find uses of these spices and herbs widely in their food recipes.
All these cardamoms, cloves, and saffron make the coffee taste quite bitter. So if you are not into experience different things, you might get baffled at first. But once you get the hang of it, a new door to caffeine heaven will open up to you, trust me!
Moreover, when you take all these herbs with this dark coffee blend, it helps you energize your brain. It also allows you to lose weight and healthily increase appetite.
But there are also some drawbacks to this particular coffee blend. Just don’t get addicted to it and avoid excessive consumption of this drink to avoid an unpleasant caffeine rush!
Types of Arabic coffee
Depending on the region, there are two types of distinctive coffees you can get. They are:
- Peninsular Arabic coffee
- Levantine Arabic coffee
Peninsular Arabic Coffee
The type of coffee served in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, and the UAE is known as peninsular Arabic coffee. This coffee is made it lightly toasted beans and clear as soup.
This coffee comes with cinnamon, saffron, cloves, and cardamom and has a gorgeous golden color. As it contains a blend of different herbs and spices, the taste is quite strong and bitter.
It is served in small coffee cups with dates or chocolates to balance the bitterness.
Levantine Arabic coffee
This coffee recipe is from the Levant, which is Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon. It also tastes bitter as it is made from dark roasted beans.
Unlike the peninsular one, this coffee isn’t infused with many spices. It is often made with only cardamom or nothing at all. The taste depends on the coffee bean. This coffee is quite similar to the Turkish one.
How to roast Arabica Coffee?
There are many types of Arabic coffee, like traditional and Turkish ones. Most of the Arabic coffees we get these days are the various blends of Turkish coffee.
The variation of different coffee blends depends on the roasting process and how much time they are roasted.
So if you want to know the preparation and how to roast Arabica coffee, let me walk you through the whole process.
What is Arabic coffee
Firstly, the main difference in making Arabic and regular coffee lies in the brewing process. The plot twist is, Arabic coffees are not brewed at all. You have to boil it!
If you are making traditional Gahwa, you have to use roasted beans. And if you want to make some excellent Turkish coffee, you can use roasted Arabica coffee grounds. You can get light to medium roasted coffee grounds according to your preference.
Arabic Coffee Making Kit
Preparation of tredational arabic Coffee
If you want to make Arabica coffee at your home, we provide an exclusive recipe (step by step) that you can follow and get a wonderfull arabica coffee.
Before starting, you should gather these Items to make traditional Arabic coffee.
- A stove for the fire.
- You have to need a coffee grinder for grinding it new is essential.
- Traditional Coffee brewing pot
- Need Some cups to serve coffee. Traditionally, It’s served in little handleless cups.
- Great quality coffee beans.
- Though spices Aren’t necessary, that is how it is usually made. Based upon Your preference, you can add cardamom, cloves, saffron, etc.
Step 1: Get your utensils
Get your coffee pot; you can get a traditional Dallah or some regular pot that you can put on the stove. Pour some hot water in your thermos to do some pre-heating. It will keep your coffee hot for a longer amount of time.
Step 2: Boil your water
Pour three cups of water into the Dallah and bring it to boil. But don’t keep it on high heat. When the water starts to boil, take it out of the stove and keep it aside for a moment.
Step 3: Add coffee
Add your coffee to the water and take it back to the stove. Don’t stir it too hard; the boiling motion of the water will get everything incorporated.
Step 4: Bring the heat on
Keep your Dallah on low heat for a good 10-12 minutes. Do not raise the temperature as it will burn your coffee and ruin the flavor.
Step 5: Let the pot sit
When the coffee starts rising, turn off the heat, remove the pot from the stove and let it sit for a while. Don’t stir it, or you will lose all the bubbles.
Step 6: Add spices
Now you can add your spices to the coffee. Traditionally saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, or star anises are added to the Arabic coffee. After adding the spices, take the pot to the stove again and bring it to a nearly-boiled state.
When it starts foaming like before, you can finally take it out of the stove.
Step7: Serve your coffee
At this point, get rid of the pre-heating water that you poured into the thermos. You can let the pot sit for a while, so the coffee ground can reach the bottom. Or you can use a coffee strainer to do some quick pouring.
You can add some sweetener or milk if you want, but that’s your decision to take. You can directly serve this coffee from the thermos just like it’s done in the Middle Eastern culture.
The health benefits of Arabic coffee
It generally serves Arabic coffee with cardamom, cinnamon, and a little sugar. However, depending on one’s taste, sugar and saffron can be added.
Besides, the spices used with coffee carry many health benefits. However, because of the caffeine content, it should not be taken in excess.
More roasted coffee beans are content with lower caffeine. And that’s why Arabic coffee usually has fewer calories.
A variety of spices in traditional Arabic coffee enrich it with antioxidants that enhance immunity and disease.
Cultivation of Arabic coffee
Ethiopia is known as the origin of the best-quality Arabica coffee. Though Brazil cultivates most of the amounts, Ethiopian coffees have a special place in everyone’s heart.
The plant “Coffee Arabica” grows well in warm temperature. So you will see that the top-grade Arabica coffee beans are cultivated in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Guatemala. They produce dark, chocolaty, and full of flavors of coffee beans.
Is Arabic coffee made of Arabica beans?
It is not necessary that you need only Arabica means to make that particular coffee. But getting the specific beans can help you to get the authentic taste and peace of mind!
You can make Arabic coffee from regular coffee beans; you have to change the making process and recipe. The Turkish coffees you get in traditional shops are made from beans of unknown origin and bought from regular shops.
When do people drink Arabic coffee?
This coffee is the social drink of Arabs as they don’t have alcohol when they gather. When they are spending quality time together, they have this coffee or tea.
They drink early in the morning, evening, even after having dinner. To avoid the caffeine rush, they tend to make it mild sometimes. So there is a particular time for them to drink coffee and have it anytime they want.
Where can you buy Arabic coffee beans (or ground coffee)?
The most convenient alternative for most individuals is to purchase Arabic coffee is online. Amazon has some excellent collections.
You might even purchase Arabic coffee at neighborhood corner shops, Coffee shops, and super shops in different parts of the city. They have huge Arabic coffee collections.
How is Arabic Coffee different from Colombian Coffee?
The Columbian and Arabian coffee is not so different from each other. Columbian coffee is a form of Arabica coffee. Here’s the summary:
- Columbian coffee is one type of Arabica coffee.
- The Columbian coffee only grows in Columbia and, Arabic coffee is a generic term for coffee. And it’s originally originated from Arabia.
- Arabic coffee is a bit stronger, while Columbian is mild.
- You can prepare the Columbian coffee instantly, while Arabica coffee needs to be brewed before taken.
In conclusion
People these days are interested in discovering new things, exploring some different aspects. They like to try authentic foods and drinks from a different origin. Therefore, the craze for Arabic coffee is spreading like wildfire.
As it tastes totally different from the one that we regularly have, people are getting more curious. So if you have felt the thirst too, I hope this article will help to know everything there is to learn about coffee Arabica!
Thank you for being with us!
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