A recent
study by the Emirates Industrial Bank stated that the UAE is still a tea
country, considering the passion for the aromatic drink of the residents,
mostly coming from the Indian Sub-Continent, whose choices have improved in
terms of variety, content and packaging.
“The Arab, Iranian, Indian sub-continent and British populations are all tea drinking, as well as the Chinese. The only major coffee drinking group in the UAE is from the Philippines and Arabs who drink both tea and coffee,” according to the government-owned corporation study and as quoted by the local media.
On another note, beauty salon Manager Jovi Novilla and her staff serve an average of 30 cups of the hot beverage a day. Their Iraqi clientele ask for another cup of the stronger version.
Sharjah resident Ramesh Rajbhar “personally roasts” the beans and starts the day with three cups since migrating to the UAE 20 years ago.
Hairdresser Cynthia Borgonio used to consume 10 cups of “Kapeng Barako” (coffee of strong taste, flavour and pungent aroma grown in the Philippines from the Coffee Iiberica variety). For health reasons, it is now down to two mugs a day.
Accountant Ethel Balidiong quipped: “I need to start the day with a very hot cup of coffee in the office. I will not be able to concentrate on the numbers and analyses without it.” Teased about indulging in coffee before bedtime, she replied: “Not in the night but only when out with friends and in a coffee shop.”
The social aspect of coffee was also mentioned by executive coach and author Wendy Appel who admitted to loving coffee so much because of “its warmth and flavour.”
Though she also drinks a cup of tea and water in a day, she added: “There is something cozy about it (coffee) to start my day right.” “It is definitely the social drink in the afternoon,” Appel also said.
Events Manager Jennifer Gonzales said that she had the experience of drinking five cups of espresso in one day when all her five meetings had fallen on one day at five different coffee shops in Dubai because those where her clients’ choice.
Coffe shops are also an intriguing business idea for many as interviews with Emirati university students as well as young professionals in the past two years revealed that a big number of them are going for “coffee shops with a difference” as start-ups.
Eric Berchtold in a recent coffee talk said the UAE is on its way to becoming among the top coffee consuming countries in the world.
The Middle East and Africa Director of Germany’s Severin home appliance company based his conclusion in the sprouting of coffee shops around amid the burgeoning population of foreign residents and visitors to being “aware of the global mega trends of coffee.”
Primarily quoting projections of the Euromonitor International consumer market and business research company, Berchtold added that while the region, home to huge expatriate communities, “is cultivating more and more coffee drinkers, making it one of the fastest growing markets in the world, the UAE alone is tipped to grow 80 per cent up to 2014 while the GCC market has now reached the value of 200 million Euros (Dhs906 million) and a total of $246 million for both the coffee and tea industries.”
Hence, the Arab world is no stranger to coffee. The brew which is also a main ingredient in some delicacies, originated from the tropical regions of Africa.
Coffee as a word was derived from the Arabic word “qahwa” for vitality and strength.
Just like any discovery that only the royalty or nobility enjoyed in the olden days, drinking coffee is now ala mode or fashionable, whether this is hot or cold.
It was in the days of yore when “drinking hot black coffee was considered eccentric and later on encouraged for the working class as a stimulant.”
Thus, according to the Speciality Coffee and Tea Convention the world’s top coffee consuming countries today are Germany, 6.97 kilogrammes (kg) a year; Brazil, 5.6 kg; Italy, 5.98 kg; US, 4.17 kg; UAE, 3.5 kg; and UK, 3 kg.
With a 3.5 kg consumption of coffee a year, the UAE tops the list among the six Gulf Cooperating Council countries and among the Arab world ranks second with Algeria after Lebanon, 4.8 kg; Qatar, 2.2 kg; Jordan, 1.9 kg; and Saudi Arabia as well as Kuwait, 1.6 kg.
Severin’s Marion Sahage Schunemann said it is the UAE’s water that makes good coffee.
“The Arab, Iranian, Indian sub-continent and British populations are all tea drinking, as well as the Chinese. The only major coffee drinking group in the UAE is from the Philippines and Arabs who drink both tea and coffee,” according to the government-owned corporation study and as quoted by the local media.
On another note, beauty salon Manager Jovi Novilla and her staff serve an average of 30 cups of the hot beverage a day. Their Iraqi clientele ask for another cup of the stronger version.
Sharjah resident Ramesh Rajbhar “personally roasts” the beans and starts the day with three cups since migrating to the UAE 20 years ago.
Hairdresser Cynthia Borgonio used to consume 10 cups of “Kapeng Barako” (coffee of strong taste, flavour and pungent aroma grown in the Philippines from the Coffee Iiberica variety). For health reasons, it is now down to two mugs a day.
Accountant Ethel Balidiong quipped: “I need to start the day with a very hot cup of coffee in the office. I will not be able to concentrate on the numbers and analyses without it.” Teased about indulging in coffee before bedtime, she replied: “Not in the night but only when out with friends and in a coffee shop.”
The social aspect of coffee was also mentioned by executive coach and author Wendy Appel who admitted to loving coffee so much because of “its warmth and flavour.”
Though she also drinks a cup of tea and water in a day, she added: “There is something cozy about it (coffee) to start my day right.” “It is definitely the social drink in the afternoon,” Appel also said.
Events Manager Jennifer Gonzales said that she had the experience of drinking five cups of espresso in one day when all her five meetings had fallen on one day at five different coffee shops in Dubai because those where her clients’ choice.
Coffe shops are also an intriguing business idea for many as interviews with Emirati university students as well as young professionals in the past two years revealed that a big number of them are going for “coffee shops with a difference” as start-ups.
Eric Berchtold in a recent coffee talk said the UAE is on its way to becoming among the top coffee consuming countries in the world.
The Middle East and Africa Director of Germany’s Severin home appliance company based his conclusion in the sprouting of coffee shops around amid the burgeoning population of foreign residents and visitors to being “aware of the global mega trends of coffee.”
Primarily quoting projections of the Euromonitor International consumer market and business research company, Berchtold added that while the region, home to huge expatriate communities, “is cultivating more and more coffee drinkers, making it one of the fastest growing markets in the world, the UAE alone is tipped to grow 80 per cent up to 2014 while the GCC market has now reached the value of 200 million Euros (Dhs906 million) and a total of $246 million for both the coffee and tea industries.”
Hence, the Arab world is no stranger to coffee. The brew which is also a main ingredient in some delicacies, originated from the tropical regions of Africa.
Coffee as a word was derived from the Arabic word “qahwa” for vitality and strength.
Just like any discovery that only the royalty or nobility enjoyed in the olden days, drinking coffee is now ala mode or fashionable, whether this is hot or cold.
It was in the days of yore when “drinking hot black coffee was considered eccentric and later on encouraged for the working class as a stimulant.”
Thus, according to the Speciality Coffee and Tea Convention the world’s top coffee consuming countries today are Germany, 6.97 kilogrammes (kg) a year; Brazil, 5.6 kg; Italy, 5.98 kg; US, 4.17 kg; UAE, 3.5 kg; and UK, 3 kg.
With a 3.5 kg consumption of coffee a year, the UAE tops the list among the six Gulf Cooperating Council countries and among the Arab world ranks second with Algeria after Lebanon, 4.8 kg; Qatar, 2.2 kg; Jordan, 1.9 kg; and Saudi Arabia as well as Kuwait, 1.6 kg.
Severin’s Marion Sahage Schunemann said it is the UAE’s water that makes good coffee.
The
coffeeologist, who studied the history of the beverage, said the type of water
including the temperature range and the length of boiling time are crucial to
one’s good coffee drink, because generally, coffee, when indulged as a beverage
consists of 98 per cent water.
