By Aney Mathew

As I visit my friend in her elegantly decorated Arabic home, the rich smell of Arabic coffee — scented lightly with the sweet aroma of cardamom, fills the place. While coffee time is associated with socialising in many cultures, it holds its own place in the Arabic world.

For coffee lovers nothing says ‘welcome’ like the smell of coffee. In the Arabic world however, coffee goes beyond socialising. It is such an integral part of the Middle Eastern culture, that no important occasion or traditional hospitality is complete without a cup (or three) of the aromatic, Arabic coffee, locally referred to as the ‘gahwa’, which is served with a platter of sweet, juicy dates.

It should come as no surprise therefore that enormous, traditional coffee pots, called the ‘dallah’, can be seen adorning roundabouts in Qatar and other GCC countries.  

The serving of gahwa is by no means limited to the affluent — the traditions dates back to nomadic Bedouin generosity and hospitality. I remember the time when we were in a rather remote location during our travel to Jordan. The evening had drawn darker and it was getting cold. Even as we were considering returning to the city, we were welcomed into the humble abode of an old Bedouin shepherd. As we sat inside the warm tent admiring the Bedouin jewellery and artefacts that decorated his makeshift dwelling place, his young son hurried to prepare and serve us piping, hot gahwa which was received most enthusiastically. The time-honoured tradition of welcoming guests with the gahwa has been preserved and handed down to generations, even in the remotest areas.

Turkish coffee is sometimes mistaken for Arabic coffee, but the two are distinctively different. Turkish coffee is dark and thick with foam on top and grounds at the bottom and is often sweet. The gahwa however is never sweetened.

As a matter of fact, if you’ve lived in the Middle East even for a short while, chances are that you have enjoyed more than one cup of gahwa at the start of some social or cultural event – be it a birth, wedding, or even a funeral.

As an Arab friend once remarked, “The gahwa marks every memorable moment of our lives. Wars have been planned over the gahwa and wars have ended over cups of it. Heroism and hospitality have long been associated with Arabic coffee.”

Arabic coffee is entrenched in hospitality, tradition and ceremony. Freshly roasted and ground Arabica coffee beans are used to make the most authentic gahwa. The ‘gahwa sadda’ contains freshly ground cardamom added to the Arabic coffee and is popular in countries like Jordan, Palestine and Syria. In the Arabian Gulf countries the addition of saffron to this gahwa gives it a rich, golden hue. There is of course no sugar added to either of these preparations and hence the reason it is served along with dates or other sweet-meats.

Usually the more bitter the occasion, the more bitter the coffee. Naturally at funerals, it is served very dark and bitter.

Traditionally the coffee beans were roasted in a light skillet and then ground in a brass mortar. The grinding of the beans was a sign of welcome. While grinding, the host would beat the side of the mortar, producing a loud ringing that invited anyone nearby to stop by, for fresh coffee. Serving coffee was an indication that the guest was welcomed and honoured; the host always tasted the coffee first, to ensure its perfection before serving the guests.

Today, the electric coffee grinder has replaced the traditional mortar in modern Arab homes, but the ritual of serving coffee is still carried out with great care and is very much a gesture of welcome and honour, being served for all important occasions.

Coffee even plays a role in traditional courtship in many Arab homes; it is customary for the girl to serve coffee to the family of her future husband, if she is willing to accept his proposal. Every social call and every meal in most homes is concluded with coffee and a tray of traditional sweets.

The time-honoured traditions behind serving and drinking the gahwa are rather interesting too. Traditionally, the host holds the ‘dallah’ in his left hand and a small stack of small, thimble-shaped cups called the finjaan, in his right. The gahwa is then poured in small portions into the finjaan and served with the right hand. It is mandatory that the coffee is served in front of the guest and the cup is never filled up to the brim.

The most important guest or the oldest person in the room is served first and other guests are served in the order of their age – from the oldest to the youngest. The cup is only filled half full or less—so it cools quickly. The guest receives the finjaan with his right hand and drinks it all. If the cup is returned to the person pouring the gahwa, it will certainly be refilled.

An Arab host will never stop refilling a cup lifted up by his guest in keeping with traditional Arabic hospitality. A simple gesture of jiggling your cup before returning to the host is indicative of the fact that you’ve had enough. Take note of this tip or you may end up drinking several cups of coffee that will be poured out by the obliging host.

A common question that arises is: why is the coffee poured out only in small amounts and never to the brim? The main reason is that this practise allows guests to be offered several refills over the course of the visit. The other practical considerations are that the small portion allows the piping hot coffee to cool quicker and then there is the ease of drinking from a cup that’s not filled to the brim.

There are so many interesting traditions associated with the gahwa. It is said that in the days of old, if a guest had something that he needed to discuss with his host, he would leave his coffee untouched, on the ground. This would prompt his host to urge him to drink, upon which the guest would inform him that he had a matter that needed to be discussed. This could be anything from a wedding proposal to a matter that needed mediation between the two parties.

Keeping with the legendary hospitality, his host would request him to drink his coffee, assuring him that the needful would be done. If the host failed to persuade his guests to drink their coffee, it was considered a humiliation to his reputation and social standing — a shame that would be carried down through many generations!

As mentioned earlier, there’s so much more to the gahwa than socialising; it has deep cultural significance. In keeping with Arabic coffee etiquette, you never refuse it; in order to be gracious the guest accepts at least one cup. By accepting it you indicate your agreement to build up the trust between you and your host.

In practise, it is considered polite to have at least three cups, as each cup is significant. The first cup – ‘finjaan al thayf’’ (the guest cup), is a cup of welcome to the visitor and an agreement of trust. This is followed by ‘finjaan al sayf’ (the sword cup), to honour the courage of the men to resolve any conflict that might be building up. Then there is the ‘finjaan al kayf’ (the pleasure cup), which is purely for enjoyment. Put loosely, the first is for health, the second for love and the third for future generations. Hence it would be considered rude not to drink all three rounds of coffee. An exception to this would be during funerals, when people have just one cup; and rather than jiggling the cup to indicate they’ve had enough, they cover the cup with the hand.

Keeping with the local hospitality, there will be many occasions when you will be invited to a cup of Arabic coffee. So the next time you are served the gahwa with delicious juicy dates, take time to sip slowly and savour the flavour, as you enjoy the time-honoured tradition of the Middle East.