Dubai café serves 22-carat gold tea

Dubai: Believe it or not, you can now drink gold in Dubai. Costing just Dh55 a cup, gold tea is available at a promotional price at Mocca Art Cafe, Downtown Dubai.

“We introduced it around two weeks ago,” cafe founder and partner Ashraf Mahran told XPRESS. The 32-year-old Egyptian was inspired to bring the concept here after tasting it in a UK hotel.

“Basically, we use gold-plated tea leaves that are edible and are approved by the authorities.”

The tea travels far before being served here. “We source the tea from Ceylon, send it to Germany to get it plated, then to Morocco for flavouring. The end product is unique.”

Mahran said the tea is popular among Emiratis, Westerners and other expatriates. “Gold tea is common in places like China, India and the West, but this is the first coffee shop to serve it here,” he said.

The tea has a distinct taste. “The flavour is very distinct and the tea is beneficial to health as it is very relaxing,” he added.