History

Arabic coffee, qahwa in Arabic and gahwa in the Emirati dialect, is brewed in a dallah and served in small cups, almost always with dates, as a gesture of hospitality. In the Gulf, qahwa khaleeji is light roasted and takes a bright yellow colour from heavy use of saffron and cardamom. The UAE, with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, had the tradition inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2015. At Qasr Al Hosn, Bait Al Gahwa shows each stage from roasting to serving, and Abu Dhabi Dates Market vendors hand out dates and coffee to sample.

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Common allergens: None typical

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 10 minTotal 20 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons very lightly roasted coffee, ground medium-fine
  • 500ml water
  • 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • A pinch of saffron threads
  • A handful of soft dates, to serve

Method

  1. Bring the water to a boil in a small pot, add the ground coffee and cardamom and lower the heat.
  2. Simmer very gently for 10 minutes, without stirring hard, until the coffee is pale gold.
  3. Add the saffron for the last minute and take the pot off the heat. Let the grounds settle for 2 minutes.
  4. Pour into a warmed pot, then into small cups, filling each one third full. Serve with dates.

Tip from the editors. Pour only a small amount per cup and refill often: cups are normally filled only partway and the host keeps pouring until the guest gestures enough.

Where to eat gahwa with dates

Gahwa with dates in Abu Dhabi

Coffee Architecture ★ 4.4

$$ CafeSaadiyat Island

Coffee Architecture is an Emirati-owned specialty cafe on Mamsha Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, brewing espresso, V60 and Chemex; its founder has run it since 2018.

DrinkManual iced Chemex

TipFounder Nooran Albannay serves gahwa to anyone who walks in, as a symbol of welcome, and recommends the manual iced Chemex.

Directions

Abu Dhabi Dates Market ★ 4.2

$ MarketAl Mina

Abu Dhabi Dates Market in Mina Zayed is a run of shops selling dates, dried fruit and nuts, where vendors hand out dates and Arabic coffee to sample.

TipA vendor told The National (February 2026) that khalas is the top seller in Ramadan; visitors mostly buy medjool and ajwa, mainly from Saudi Arabia.

Directions

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