How to Make Arabic Coffee: This Will Definitely Wake You Up!

Learn how to make this classic Arabic drink and find out more about what you can add to it and the recipe variations.
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Samanta Fryer
Samanta Fryer
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Samanta Fryer is our senior editor and content writer, at CoffeeVibe. Apart from writing and reading, she’s fond of the coffee brewing process and enjoys tasting new coffe read more
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Last updated: August 24, 2023
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Arabic coffee, also called qahwa, is a delicious drink that originated in the middle east. Try to think of the cheerful scents of Mediterranean spices, add the intense aroma of coffee, and mix everything. Then your Arab qahwa coffee is ready.

It is a popular drink among the Bedouins and the Middle East, where it is served on every social occasion. However, it requires slow and careful preparation. If the idea intrigues you and you want to taste it, here you will find out how to make Arabic coffee and everything you need.

What Is Arabic Coffee?

How to Make Arabic Coffee: This Will Definitely Wake You Up!

Arabic coffee is a generic term for preparing coffee in many Arab countries, including the Middle East. However, there are wide variations in how coffee is made from place to place. This includes the roasting of the beans or the added spices and flavors.

What Type of Coffee to Use?

To prepare your drink, you will find ready-made blends of coffee and spices on the market. But, despite being practical, they do not allow you to experiment and vary the type and quantity of ingredients. The advice, therefore, is to get yourself an excellent Arabica coffee, possibly not too roasted.

How Much Caffeine Does It Contain?

An espresso shot of Arabic coffee contains around  40 mg of caffeine Trusted Source Caffeine Levels in Coffee | How Much Caffeine in Coffee | Coffee.org But how much Caffeine is REALLY in my coffee? On average, a single arabica coffee bean contains 1.9 milligrams of caffeine (1.2 – 1.5g of caffeine per 100g). A single robusta coffee bean has 2.9 milligrams of caffeine (2.2 – 2.7g of caffeine per 100g). A 250ml (8.5fl oz) cup of arabica filter coffee contains 100 milligrams of caffeine. coffee.org , so you should not take more than three cups of this coffee daily. This type of coffee is bitter and pungent. You can compare it with some of the strongest coffee on the market.

What Spices Can You Use?

How to Make Arabic Coffee: This Will Definitely Wake You Up!

An  Arabic-style coffee Trusted Source Arabic coffee, a symbol of generosity - intangible heritage - Culture Sector - UNESCO Website of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ich.unesco.org  is a drink traditionally prepared with spices such as saffron, cardamom, cloves, or cinnamon. The spices give the coffee an exceptional flavor.

However, Arabic coffee spices are optional and add to taste. If you have to refer to a typical and traditional variant, opt for saffron, cinnamon, and cardamom. However, some also use a little oregano, cloves, nutmeg, a little pepper, star anise, etc.

What You Will Need

First, you should get the right coffee pot: the dallah, a sort of metal jug, complete with lid and spout, in which coffee is boiled. If you can’t find one, you can replace it with a tall saucepan

After it’s prepared on the stove, it is poured into a thermos and served in a cup called a “finjaan.”

You can buy roasted whole beans or ground coffee. You will find various options on the list of the  best ground coffee Trusted Source 8 Best Ground Coffees Reviewed in Detail (Summer 2022) If you are looking for the best ground coffee, we are happy to easen your choice by offering you the best blends that are on the market! coffeehustle.org . As for roasted options, look for light or medium roast coffee.

And if you have to get unground coffee, know that you’ll need a grinder. However, not all grinders work for this kind of coffee variation. But you’ll find a good option in this list of the best Turkish coffee grinders or simply go for the Capresso Infinity Plus Grinder, which can grind into an extremely fine coarse needed for Arabic coffee.

Some specialty coffee shops offer a blend of Arabic coffee with spices. For example, the Café Najjar Turkish Coffee includes cardamom. But it has been ground to the perfection of Arabic coffee.

However, note that you won’t be able to adjust the proportions to your taste, but it can be handy to get the aroma of Arabic coffee.

You can also buy unroasted Arabica coffee beans and roast them yourself.

Note, however, that Arabic coffee is prepared and served unsweetened and intense, often only flavored with  cardamom Trusted Source Roasted Carrots with Cardamom Butter Recipe | EatingWell Roasting these carrots with only a bit of butter and some cardamom gives them a rich, nutty flavor that belies how healthy they are. A single serving gives you over 600 percent of the daily recommendation for vitamin A! www.eatingwell.com . Cloves, cinnamon, and rose water are also some of the ingredients used.

How to Make Arabic Coffee: This Will Definitely Wake You Up! 3

Arabic Coffee Recipe

Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 9 minutes
Course Coffee
Calories 15 kcal

Equipment

  • Mortar
  • Dallah or saucepan

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp ground coffee
  • 6 cardamom berries
  • Orange flower (or rose) water
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 6 cloves
  • A pinch of saffron

Instructions
 

  • Crush the cardamom and cloves in the mortar.Keep the resulting powder and cinnamon handy.
    How to Make Arabic Coffee: This Will Definitely Wake You Up! 5
  • Pour 700 ml of water into the dallah ora saucepan and put it on the stove. 
  • Before the water boils, remove the containerfrom the heat and add the ground coffee. 
  • Wait a minute and put the saucepan back on lowheat, letting it simmer for about 10 minutes: this will give an exceptionalintensity and density to your drink. 
  • Remove the saucepan from the heat and add thecinnamon and the powder obtained from the cloves and cardamom. 
  • Bring it to a boil for the third time. 
    How to Make Arabic Coffee: This Will Definitely Wake You Up! 7
  • Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5minutes. This is the right time to add a couple of drops of orange blossom orrose water and a pinch of saffron. This will give your Arab coffee a distinctaroma.

Video

Notes

A cup of Arabian coffee has no calories or fat but a small percentage of protein.

Arabic Coffee Recipe Variations

As mentioned earlier, the Arabic coffee recipe varies from place to place.

Arabian Peninsula

Coffee from the Arabian Peninsula differs in flavor and bitterness from that produced in Egypt and the Levant. It can be flavored with spices, including saffron. A pinch of evaporated milk is rarely added to this drink.

Palestine

Among the Bedouins and most Arabs in Palestine, unsweetened and dark-colored qahwah sadah (Arabic for “regular coffee”) is more common.

Lebanon

Lebanese coffee has a strong flavor and is black. Although similar to coffee from other countries in the Middle East, it is prepared by mixing roasted blonde and dark beans.

In Lebanon, the drink is brewed in a coffee pot called rakwe and poured into decorated cups known as finjān, which have a capacity of 60 to 90 ml.

Final Thoughts

Arabic qahwa coffee is common in middle eastern culture. It arrived in Europe through the Mediterranean thanks to the Turkish army. Now, it has gone global, and everybody can have a taste of it. We’ve shown how to make Arabic coffee.

The plant’s beans are roasted at high temperatures and ground, infused, and flavored with cardamom. The resulting drink is not filtered and sweetened. To compensate for its bitter taste, the coffee is enjoyed with sweets, dates, or dried fruit.

Arabic coffee is served directly in a special small cup without handles called a finjān. Sometimes it is poured from a decorative jug called Della. It is usually accompanied by dried fruit, candied fruit, sweets, and dates, which with their sweetness, will complete the aromatic, spicy, and pleasantly bitter taste of the drink.

References

1.
Caffeine Levels in Coffee | How Much Caffeine in Coffee | Coffee.org
But how much Caffeine is REALLY in my coffee? On average, a single arabica coffee bean contains 1.9 milligrams of caffeine (1.2 – 1.5g of caffeine per 100g). A single robusta coffee bean has 2.9 milligrams of caffeine (2.2 – 2.7g of caffeine per 100g). A 250ml (8.5fl oz) cup of arabica filter coffee contains 100 milligrams of caffeine.
2.
Arabic coffee, a symbol of generosity - intangible heritage - Culture Sector - UNESCO
Website of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
3.
8 Best Ground Coffees Reviewed in Detail (Summer 2022)
If you are looking for the best ground coffee, we are happy to easen your choice by offering you the best blends that are on the market!
4.
Roasted Carrots with Cardamom Butter Recipe | EatingWell
Roasting these carrots with only a bit of butter and some cardamom gives them a rich, nutty flavor that belies how healthy they are. A single serving gives you over 600 percent of the daily recommendation for vitamin A!
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