We’ve seen a few things like this here in Dubai, whether it be a fancy restaurant, a bakery or a shop BUT when it comes to specialty coffee, this is very rare indeed. And in fact one of my fave specialty coffee shops from London is about to open in Dubai this week or next – more on that when I visit it God willing.
So, onto Half Cup, Dubai.
I had never heard of this place but when our daughter suggested we visit it to celebrate my wife birthday for brunch, I checked them out and their coffee and off we went.
It’s set in a new residential complex in Business Bay, surrounded by fancy looking apartment blocks called Peninsula 1, 2, 3 etc. and so as you drive up, you could be anywhere in the world, with a view of the canal not too far. Half Cup itself is ultra-modern, almost like a glass box with tons of sunlight coming in and some seats outside for when it gets cooler – yes it does get cooler in Dubai, from early November to about late March.
Although there aren’t many seats inside, we managed to get one as we entered. We were attended to probably my waiter of the year, Chris, who was very attentive and helpful. I think the first mistake we made was not listening to him about the portion sizes. Whoa!
Am not sure if you can detect the size of our Turkish Eggs order with beef brisket but the BBQ Beef Brisket Brioche sandwich was enough for three.
Whoa!!!!
If you do go there and order eggs royale. Beware too that it’s enough for two too as I saw that the next table had ordered it.
So, how about the coffee?
Sitting on top an eye-catching steel brewing bar was their two group La Marzocco Linea espresso machine accompanied with two Victoria Arduino grinders. They have a selection of coffees, to choose from for both filter and espresso based roasted locally by one of my top Dubai based roasteries, so I was confident in their offering. I went for a flat white, with Brazilian beans.
Flat white at Half Cup
Delicious with hints of nuts and milk chocolate. It’s a good thing that I ordered this before my meal as I often do if I order eggs cooked in a tomato sauce, i.e. the Turkish eggs. If not, it might have been a challenge for me to finish my coffee.
Highly recommend and did I mention they have a dinner menu too?
I’m already looking forward to my next visit as whenever you find good food and coffee, you can bet I’ll be planning my next visit there soon.
I recall a few years back, pre-pandemic, when I read that there were a few restaurants opening in Dubai on a weekly or perhaps a monthly basis. It seems the coffee shop entrepreneurs or what I like to call the coffeepreneurs didn’t want to be left behind…. Enter a new coffee concept, Q-LAB, located in Jumeriah.
Now to be honest, Q-Lab is not a new coffee shop as such but more a new concept born out of the company DXB Blends (DXB is the acronym for Dubai airport, just like you have LHR for London Heathrow Airport). In short, DXB blends have been around in Dubai for a few years, and I first heard of them when I moved to Dubai 3 years ago. I must confess, although I had only been once, I was never tempted to visit any of their shops until now, when I saw another Dubai coffee nerd duo post about them. Intrigued, I arranged for my friends and I to have our regular Saturday morning coffee meet up there.
The Q Lab seating area
In short, Q-Lab will be the new hub of DXB Blends, where their roastery will roast coffee and prepare blends for their other outlets, with a stronger focus on quality, so the coffee on offer at Q-Lab will be a higher specialty coffee offering. As you enter the coffee hub, there are lots of chairs, with the roastery on the right-hand side.
The roasters
As you walk further in, you will be greeted by a friendly Barista, Ace (I told him that with a name like that, he will have to ace it every time he brews coffee…pressure) – we chatted coffee for several minutes as I got there ahead of my friends. Ace has been working in coffee for over 5 years and hails from the Philippines, but he shared with me his desire to keep learning about coffee so that he can compete for the national barista championships and perhaps more. He even has a tattoo on his hand with the Hario V60 and coffee beans.
I love coffee tattoos
Pleased to see the Mod Bar, I opted for the espresso blend for my cortado as the description hinted of Brazil.
The Mod Bar
My friend, Naveed opted for an Ethiopian and got a beautifully poured unicorn latte art… hmmmm! I thought because this was Ace fave coffee.
Walking around, you will see their coffee on display in different sizes of the standard 250g and a smaller version at 100g. I think they do this because they have some expensive lots, and it might be easier on your pocket to try a 100g coffee. As I walked around, a Yemeni Lot 22100 with notes of cacao nibs, dried figs and vanilla caught my attention.
Yemeni coffee
So, after downing my cortado, followed with some conversation, I knew that I had to try this special coffee brewed on a Hario V60, who wouldn’t?
Delicious
I shared it with Naveed and it was definitely worth AED55 ($15) – their normal price for filter brews are AED30. I picked up dried fruits, hints of light cacao and vanilla spice, yum.
As we were leaving, the staff gave me a complementary 100g bag of a Colombian Anaerobic Java coffee, so kind.
Q Lab are located at 118 Al Hadiqa Rd – Al Safa – Al Safa 1 – Dubai.
I plan to revisit as they will soon be offering breakfast and lunch too.
And no, that isn’t a typo. Three Coffee Roasters are a Dubai based specialty coffee roasting coffee company, who tend to specialise in “funky” coffee and by that I mean that they push the boundaries in sourcing anaerobic, macerated, 90+ and rare coffees and then roasting them that make you say wow! once you sip them.
So, it came as a I surprise to me when I was scrolling through my instagram feed that I saw Drew – their New Zealander Co-Founder and General Manager talking about their espresso coffees. Upon further inspection on their website I was pleasantly surprised to see that they offered non-funky single estate and blends. I confess, although I don’t mind pushing my taste buds to the limit – always up for the challenge – with some things like espresso and espresso with milk, for me, its a no! no!. I don’t mind something unusual in my milk based espresso like macadamia , dark berries, vanilla, cinnamon, with hints of dark chocolate, caramel, etc BUT I don’t really want high acidity, peach, grapefruit and strawberries with milk.
So, when I came across Colombia La Esperanza Washed – Made for Milk, Ethiopia Hambela and Lazy Daze, all for espresso and milk based – I was excited and placed an order.
Before I describe my taste bud experience, a detour.
A few things I noticed about Three Coffee espresso offerings;
*The aroma – wow!
*The long lasting taste – admirable
*Ease of puling shots – stressless, except the Ethiopia Hambela (more on that later).
My first brew was the Colombia La Esperanza – made for milk. Upon opening the bag, wow! the aroma and yes it smelt of milk chocolate. It was great with milk and probably my fave of the batch.
I savoured it a little longer but trying the others before finishing this.
Next up, the Lazy Daze – a mix of “A mix of washed, natural and anaerobic coffees from Brazil, Indonesia, Rwanda, Guatemala and Colombia”, so expect something unusual.
Another aromatic experience that lasted right to the end of the bag and the long lasting taste after every brew stopped me from eating anything it afterwards for at least an hour to savour the taste, yum.
Now, Hambela.. Ethiopia, Ethiopia. where do I start? In fact when I tired to brew this first as an espresso, it was a disaster – nothing came out, so I thought perhaps I bought the wrong roast type – filter instead of espresso and so I actually brewed it on the Hario V60 and on the Aeropress
BUT then I thought let me go back to Drew on instagram. He shared rather helpfully that the beans are lot more denser, so I need to grind a lot more coarser than the other beans, which I did.
When I tried it as a milk based espresso drink – I must confess the first experience was wow, wow, wow! yes three times of wow! BUT after the first brew I didn’t get that easily.
Perhaps because of the plus 40C temperature in Dubai the brewing experience was temperamental and when rushing out in the morning, I couldn’t afford to keep wasting shots, so I settled on a 18g, 30g out – more hints of dark berries and dark chocolate.
If you are excited by what you read, then visit http://Three Coffee to place an order and I’m not getting any commission.
I can’t think of a wonderful way to start 2023 than attending a full-blown coffee event in my city, Dubai. This was the second edition of the World of Coffee (WOC) event in Dubai but there was no comparison to the 2022 edition, as the 2023 was on a much bigger scale.. perhaps about 6-7 times the size. Kudos to Khalid Mulla (president of SCA UAE) and the top brass of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), whose president Yannis Apostolopoulos, attended too.
However, it wasn’t just about the size of the venue but the buzz too, created by coffee geeks, like moi who crave learning, talking and speaking about coffee but to be usurped in an environment where you got to witness coffee professionals who work hard to ensure you enjoy your daily brew wherever you are in the World, share their passion and love for the bean. So, what else?
We had the latest tech on display from the espresso machine kings like La Marzocco, Victoria Arduino, Synesso, Slayer, Rocket and more –
Synesso ES1
We had other equipment highlighting the latest tech to roast, sort, filter brew and store coffee – we had coffee from coffee roasters not just from the GCC region but from India (Subko, Blue Tokai), Australia (Stitch Coffee) and Denmark (April) too.
April Coffee from Denmark Blue Tokai from India
We had the inventor of Cafec showing us how to brew coffee on his invention differently from what I had seen previously.
There were also talks on all aspects of coffee and I got to meet famous coffee podcaster, Lee Safar too. Dubai powerhouse, DMCC had a large booth showcasing their service offerings from a business perspective and their head, Saeed gave Naveed and I lovely gifts.
What else?
We had award winning coffee growers, coffee art, young baristi serving coffee from Panama, other coffee growing regions showcasing their coffee, UK and European coffee specialist – a special evening hosted by Garfield of Mokha 1450, where I met former WBC champ, Stephen Morrissey – I wrote about him here in 2008…
The list goes on and I met too many people that I won’t list so as not to offend anyone, BUT it was all about coffee, coffee, coffee – the title of my Instagram post that went viral. However, a major first was the UAE National Barista Championship, which was won by Mariam Erin, now of Cosmic Garden Coffee. I wrote about about her here when she was the UAE coffee brewers champ.
Organised across three days, I went twice with fellow coffee nerd, Naveed (blogger) and met other coffee geeks too – pic at the top.
Leaving my palate free for both days I ensured that I often started with an espresso-based milk drink – after all there were tons of people offering to make you free coffee using the Victoria Arduino Eagle One (I guess they sponsored the event). On my first day, I have to confess I lost count on how many coffees I tried – having been coffee fatigued on day One, I promised not to be drowned in coffee again on day Two but although I know I was a bit more reserved, I still lost count.
Cortado by Typica
WOC was held in the venue of all Dubai venues, the World Trade Centre, which was apt for one of the first major events of the year. You could easily get lost and in fact there were few people I had wanted to meet and some booths that I wanted to visit that I found out were there after the event, but such is life.
Nevertheless, it was good to hang out with Naveed, talk coffee and then veer off to learn more about coffee from other specialists. It got me thinking about how far the coffee industry has gotten in the last 10-15 years since I fell in love with it. Back then, the focus was on the God Shot of expresso brilliance – talk about filter coffee let alone single origin was completely alien as filter methods like the aeropress or Hario V60 were not either invented or ignored – it was all about espresso and batch brew machines.
Espresso number ?
Now in 2023, even I was completely blown away by the type of coffee equipment not just for commercial outfits but for the home too. There are now so many options that I must confess, would be very overwhelming for a newbie or even someone that wants to start. Perhaps next year they could hold on the first day, a guide to brewing coffee at home, where the manufacturers display some of the items to break you in gently into brewing coffee based of course on your budget.
Roest small batch roaster
Other topics worth venturing in may be to do with sustainability – where climate change will affect how coffee is grown and eventually coffee farmers and all those that depend on it, for their livelihoods. I’m really passionate about this and plan to get involved somehow, so anyone reading this that has ideas, please send me a message.
As I sign off, I was touched by how some visitors to Dubai and the GCC in general were amazed by the quality of coffee on offer in the region. Again, I recall coming to Dubai many times before I moved here in 2020 and it wasn’t until Raw Coffee started about 10 years back did specialty coffee start its momentum – to see it get adopted so quickly and to see how people have become passionate about it, obviously brings a smile to my face and a warm comfort for my palate as I’ve always wanted to live a in a coffee focused city.
So, don’t wait until WOC 2024, visit Dubai not just for the sun, beaches, shopping and amazing buildings, but for the coffee too.
Well, the answer for me is YES… and perhaps I should add, only in Dubai.
Just last week, I was meeting a friend at the Galleria Mall in al Barsha, Dubai (the neighbourhood behind the Mall of the Emirates – the one with the ski slope) and upon entering I saw a coffee shop, La Gente.
La Gente Dubai
Always the sceptical coffee snob, I decided to pop my head in, where I saw a Synesso machine to my right, lots of roasted coffee in retail bags, coupled with their black and grey marble interior. On the left they have seating on high tables but they also have seats outside the coffee shop. I then walked further in and spotted this….
Probat 12kg
A Probat (think, Mercedes of coffee roasters and yes, it’s made in Germany). Impressed I promptly asked “do you actually roast coffee in this machine in this mall?” and they replied “yes sir”. So, I thought “I can’t really come in here, quiz them and not order coffee”. So as soon as my friend joined me, we went for it together with some cakes… blueberry, ummm!.
First up, they have a variety of coffee on order. For espresso, they had a Brazil, which my friend took and then I asked them for their house blend… Brazil, Ethiopia and Costa Rica… aha! now this might not seem exciting to you BUT for me it was, why ?
Lets rewind to 2008-2009 – this was the era of espresso blends – the time before single origin was even thought off for espresso.
so, fast forward to 2022 and the main reasons why I was excited by this blend is because this exact combination was indeed the flavour of the years back then, because you used
Brazil for body, crema and chocolate and nut
Costa Rica for acidity
Ethiopia for fruitiness
so, now guess what I ordered …
A cortado using their house blend of course, with some kind of seahorse on the latte art design.
Yes, it was flavourful as I got to sample a mirage of fruit, medium acidity and hints of almond and dark chocolate.
If I’m ever at that end of Dubai again, I’ll try their filter blend options, for which they were offering three options.. see below
La Gente brew bar
Apparently they have three branches, Galleria Mall, where I went, Eden House and Motorworks.
Always out for a scent (pun intended) of coffee adventure, I asked my fellow coffee geek, Naveed, for this favourite new coffee spots in Dubai and I was presented with two options, and I chose Coterra, located in Umm Ramool, near the airport and closet to me as I had run out of espresso coffee and needed coffee quick – and no, I’m not an addict – I just like or should I say, love coffee. I was even surprised that a coffee shop existed in this part of the bustling city that Dubai is and to be honest, had to check google maps twice to make sure I wasn’t headed in the wrong direction – confession … on my way there, I took the wrong turning.
So, upon arriving you are greeted with this Muriel of colours – in fact it reminds me of something you might find in another part of the World, like in South America. Okay, let’s go in.
Upon entering, it was like a hidden gem indeed. I was greeted with a brew bar to my right accompanied with a complimentary cup of Arabic coffee by, I presume the cafe manager and to my left I spotted not one but two Giesen coffee roasters covered in their brand colours of green of course – I hasten to add, Giesen is a fave with serious coffee roasters.
As I walked further into the cafe to take some pictures, I also noted what looked like a sensory lab… decked with a coffee tasting chart – the wheel of fortune for all coffee sensory nerds.
Already looking impressed, I noticed a gentleman walking up to me and I did this thing that my wife always rolls her eyes – yes, having travelled extensively in Africa, I try and spot accents as a way to connect with people and I instantly picked up head barista, Mickey’s, as being from Kenya. After exchanging greetings (Karibu is welcome in Swahili) adding that I had been to Kenya several times and to the famous Coffee Research Institite in Ruiru, just outside Nairobi, Mickey had this look that if I could read minds, could be summed up as “oh, this guy knows and loves coffee” , so he presented me with a few options for tasting their coffee over my two hour stay.
First up, was a Costa Rican coffee for my daily cortado. I must confess, I was highly skeptical as my previous memories of Costa Rican coffee is that they tend to be on the higher acidity side, not bad for filter but as an espresso, I didn’t really want to drink something that might remind me of orange juice and milk – the two just don’t mix, literally.
Looks good doesn’t it? My skepticism disappeared after the first sip, as my tongue was washed with subtle fruit with hints of caramel and berries, but not over bearing. Of course, I then quizzed Mickey about how he had brewed my coffee, to which he explained the process adopted using their Dalla Corte “zero barista” espresso machine. So, here’s a short diversion for the coffee geeks.
In summary, the espresso machine is built with a Digital Flow Regulation (DFR) using an exclusive and patented technology that allows you to digitally control the quantity of water whilst you extract an espresso – this is important because this is where aromas and flavours are developed. By being able to regulate the flow, you can vary acidity, sweetness and body according to the requests of your customers, leading them toward a new concept of tasting. For just one type of coffee variety, more tastings are possible, different from one another. (courtesy Dalla Corte)
So, what does that mean ? In short Mickey was able to manipulate the coffee and reduce the acidity whilst brewing my coffee, WOW! I love learning new stuff about coffee.
Before I left, I had an espresso on the house and an exquisite Colombian coffee, brewed on the Hario V60.
I was also lucky enough to meet with the pleasant owner, Mohamed, who gave me his card and explained the name behind the brand – CO for coffee and TERRA(latin for land), so “coffee land”. He also mentioned that his partner is from Nepal.
I left with two bags of coffee roasted for espresso, one, their Space Blend and the other, can you believe it? Costa Rican, roasted for espresso.
In short, if you are on the way to the airport and want a quick good tasting coffee before you fly, then make this your last stop. Otherwise, it isn’t that far from downtown Dubai – say 10 minutes drive. As of now I’m still enjoying their coffees.
Coterra are located at 18 9th street, Umm Ramool, Dubai – use google maps
Welcome to Part 2 of this myth busting series about Freshly Roasted Coffee… the real test, which relates to how does coffee roasted several months ago, taste. Even though coffee can still smell fantastic, does it taste good too? Have you always been told that after 3-4 weeks of a coffee being roasted it won’t taste nice? A side note – did you know that according to the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), 80% of our taste is reliant on our smell ? Well 🤔 here’s a video debunking that myth as I now prepare and taste a coffee roasted 4 months ago, an Ethiopian coffee roasted for Mokha 1450 – a cafe in Dubai, which I was gifted by its proprietor , Garfield.
I’m so excited to let you know that on 2 March 2021 I launched my first ESPRESSO BLEND coffee in collaboration with Sippy Beans of Dubai, UAE. I always believe that if you are really passionate about something and try your best to persevere with faith and determination to live your dream, you will experience it in some way. This isn’t my first journey of living my dream as you know, because back in 2009, I moved to Cape Town to open up my first coffee shop, called Escape Caffe, which I eventually sold for multiple personal reasons in early 2013.
So, when in October 2020, upon just moving to Dubai, I met with Shehzeen of Sippy Beans (a Dubai based online coffee retailer) I was asked, after talking about coffee for hours, she asked how we could work together, I dared to say, because I had dreamt about it and wanted to articulate it for REAL, that “can we launch a coffee brand using From Coffee With Love”, she said YES almost immediately. Now, who said that dreams don’t come true.
You may be wondering why I have called the espresso blend the “drink of the escapist”, so check my video here to experience my excitement.
In short, we worked with one of Dubai’s premier coffee roasters and after having tasted about 10 different blends, I knew that just one sip of what would be become my first espresso blend was all I needed. It just hit the spot, it was so unusual for me and I knew it was a bit unconventional, like LOVE of course, something that cannot be easily explained.
As I usually drink my espresso based drinks with milk, you’ll find hints of chocolate, spicy vanilla, with medium/low acidity and a long lasting caramel taste – so you’ll be looking forward to your next cup.
I always believe that you should follow your passion and pursue your dreams with perseverance as you never know who God will place in your path to make that dream a reality.
Thanks to my wife and my kids for believing in me and being patient when I went to cafes and grilled baristas about their coffee preparation. Thanks to Sippy for putting their trust in launching this blend with me. Looking forward to developing the filter blend soon God willing.
Before I delve into this new post and just in case you were wondering…. Yes! I’ve moved to Dubai, UAE. Over the last few weeks, if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you would have noticed under my stories that I’ve been visiting many cafes and roasteries. On the latter, you would be pleased and coffee fixated to know that Dubai has many coffee roasteries – in fact I think someone should do an analysis of the amount of coffee froasteries per square mile/km within this bustling coffee fixated city.
One one such trip, I decided to visit Cypher Urban Roastery, after seeing a price on them on CNN, where they talked about the challenges during the pandemic of 2020.
On entering their roastery, situated in the coffee roastery district of them all, Al Qouz District, my fellow coffee nerd, Naveed and I were approached by a gentleman, who came out of his office and greeted us calmly. He then proceeded to offer to make is a coffee, for which we naturally went for a cortado, which he brewed using a Ugandan arabica.
Latte art on cortado
Hints of sour cherry caramel came to my taste buds.
After that, he showered us with extensive coffee knowledge, nit just about Dubai but also about roasting and sourcing beans, which led to another culinary experience, where he brewed not just one, but two very special coffees from an extraordinary lot from Colombia using the Hario V60 method. If my memory serves me correctly, they were rated number 1 and 2 respectively in Colombia. Both were naturally from Cypher’s Nobility line, which means they are highly rated, cupping over 90.
The first, my favourite, had hints of guava, see above
The second one was still very special and was very fruity.
After that he gave us a tour of their roastery, from bag storage, to roasters, packing station and distribution outlet.
Roastery at Cypher
He also showed us a special Probat roaster that he designed with the owner.
All in all, a fantastic coffee experience, made extra special by Milo Sekulovic, a very modest gentleman indeed hailing from Serbia and of course, a Q grader and specialist coffee roaster.
Thanks Milo and Cypher for an extraordinary coffee experience.
The experience was even more exhilarating as I had my #dailycortado using #kenyancoffee
In honour of International coffee day on 1 October 2020, I decided to treat myself at one of Dubai’s iconic specialty coffee shops, The Espresso Lab, located at Dubai Design District. In fact this was my second visit, as I had visited them at the previous location in 2016, read here.
As you enter, you are greeted with a brew bar, featuring a Synesso espresso machine and many filter brew options ranging from cold drip, Hario V60, khalifa wave, etc and more, see pic below.
Brew bar at espresso lab
What was unusual for me, was the number of staff present. Let me explain; following the pandemic , I’ve noticed that most food and beverage establishments have cut down considerably on staff. I’ve always been in two minds about this because I always believe that this compromises on service delivery. Can you really provide the same level of quality customer experience ( I prefer this to service) with less people? Well, I don’t think so.
So, back to espresso lab. For me, with this amount of staff, it gave the impression that they were very focused on the customer and that each staff had clear guidelines on their job, so well done espresso lab.
Now, to the coffee. I love that they don’t serve espresso to go and don’t offer sugar, yay!
Coffee menu
I knew I was craving espresso based coffee as I had to leave my espresso machine in Vienna until it is air freighted. On offer were 3 single origins; India, Yemen and Kenya. Now, if you know a bit about coffee origins and taste profiles, you’ll know that these choices are very unusual, especially for espresso. In case you are wondering, it’s very rare to brew Kenyan coffee on an espresso machine mainly because of the typical profile of bold, berry and citrus flavours. Although very uncommon at the moment, I must say since I’ve moved to Dubai, I’ve had close contact with Yemeni coffee, so, I decided to try the Kenya coffee. Check out the latte art pour by barista Wael below.
Pouring my cortado
And wow! I wasn’t disappointed, as this was for me, one of the best milk based espresso drinks of 2020, a true treat, praise God. Well done to the barista Wael, who I quizzed endlessly before I placed my order. I salute his patience.
After that delightful experience, I knew I needed something sweet, so here comes the mini double layer carrot cake, topped with rose petals, another delicious treat. To compliment this experience I had a short black, americano with less water and discovered a book, “the monk of mokha“, which a friend mentioned to me a few years back, that I would like to buy and read.
Cute Carrot cake
Their menu is different and I plan to visit their newly opened roastery with another coffee nerd soon in order to learn more.
Coffee galore
So, when in Dubai, I highly recommend a visit to espresso lab, located in building 7, Dubai Design District.
From Coffee With Love 