There are two reasons to celebrate October 1 today – it’s International Coffee Day and the beginning of Expo 2020 Dubai. International coffee day was first established by the International Coffee Organization to raise awareness and also support coffee farmers’ world over, to make sure that they can make a steady income.
Second only to water, coffee is a much-loved beverage and continues to find its place in the hands of every other person – whether they’re at a café, running to work, or just enjoying the weather. That being said, here’s a quick story on how coffee came to be…
Coffee’s history can be traced back to 850 AD and is said to have been found by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi, who spotted a change in the way his goats behaved after consuming coffee beans from a nearby plant. However, the first actual traces of coffee, consumed as a beverage, is said to have come in from the 15th century in Yemen. Ever since then, coffee beans were exported to the rest of the world.
What is Lavazza’s solar moka coffee?
Italy is known for its coffee. But they have taken innovation to a whole new level and have started preparing coffee without an electronic machine. How? The machine uses the sun as its true source of energy. The concept of the 2.2-metre-high moka pays tribute to the iconic Carmencita moka pot, designed by Italian designer Marco Zanuso for Lavazza in 1979. This innovative technology reduces energy consumption in the subsequent stages of coffee preparation. When heated, the water runs through copper pipes surrounding the cafeteria, revealing the process of preparation in a multi-sensory experience.
The inspiration provided by sustainability as a way of life, can also be seen in the design of the counter, which is made with reused coffee grounds and has a tactile surface top made from coffee beans and resin.
1. Wacup Coffee Hub – Short for ‘Wake up and have a cup’, this café is located at Opportunity District, and serves one of the finest coffee at the site.
2. Emirati Coffee at Majlis Al Naseem Coffee shop – serves finest camel milk café in the UAE, which is also known as ‘white gold’. Located at Sustainability District.
3. Depresso Café – specialty coffee roasted beans served with mini donuts. Located at Opportunity District.
4. Canvas by Coffee + Culture – Like its name suggests, drink coffee and fuel your creativity by working straight out of the shop, especially since it’s got a great co-working space.
5. Rogue coffee – Located at Al Forsan Park, this coffee shop serves the perfect brew depending on which country your barista is based out of – Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia and many more!
6. RX Coffee Apothecary – Based out of the Sustainability District, this coffee shop serves organic coffee with sustainable ingredients, thereby embedding the theme of sustainability into their café concept.
In case you are on the lookout for a more rich and hands-on experience, visit these pavilions for a good sip of state-of-the-art coffee:
1. AUSTRALIA PAVILION: The coffee is Melbourne’s own Industry Beans espresso blend ‘Fitzroy Street’, comprising of beans from Honduras, Burundi and Colombia. Highly skilled baristas will operate the three group Black Eagle espresso machine to deliver a special experience of drinking filter roast single-origin estate beans with V60 pour overs for coffee lovers. For non-coffee drinkers, a spread of decaffeinated coffee processed using the Swiss Water Process will be available. It is one of the only chemical-free decaffeination processes to exist, using only water and osmosis to remove the caffeine content. Alternative milk options, Golden Turmeric, Beetroot, Matcha and Chai are also listed on the menu of Australia Pavilion.
2. AUSTRIA PAVILION: One of the pavilion’s strongest selling points is its cultural coffeehouse experience called the ‘Austrian Delight’. The Viennese coffeehouse will serve visitors a taste of the Austrian capital’s traditional specialty. Austrian coffee brand Julius Meinl will offer freshly brewed coffee paired with desserts. At the world fair, you can find out why these quaint Austrian coffeehouses earned a spot on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.
3. BRAZIL PAVILION: At Brazil’s pavilion you can expect to find some of the world’s most exclusive micro lots coffee – special lots of coffee that are selected for their high quality and unique flavours. Micro lots celebrate the diversity of coffee and its different varieties such as bourbon, java, pacamara and giesha. Micro lots also help celebrate small producers, whose coffee making business runs through generations and is the life blood of the communities who rely upon it for their survival. With micro lots these small farmers have access to higher prices which help to incentivise them in continuing to grow coffee.
4. ETHIOPIA PAVILION: A classical coffee ceremony will conclude the visitor journey at Ethiopia's pavilion. ‘Jebena buna’ known as the coffee ritual is a coffee making tradition led by women who prepare the coffee by roasting, grinding and boiling the beans over open flame in a clay pot called the jebena. At Ethopia’s pavilion, you can sip on the strongly scented coffee that was made right before your eyes.
5. FINLAND PAVILION: You can enjoy your cup of coffee at the Finnish pavilion in the most innovative ways possible. Through decarbonised technology, the unit captures carbon dioxide from air and combines it with hydrogen molecules extracted from water through electrolysis. This formula is then converted in a bio methanation process that produces synthetic methane fuel to power up the coffee making machine.
6. NEW ZEALAND PAVILION: In line with the theme of ‘Care for people and place’, New Zealand will be serving sustainable coffee. The pavilion has partnered up with RAW Coffee Company to serve fresh quality roasted coffee beans. ‘Tiaki’, the restaurant inside the pavilion will serve organic coffee supplied by RAW. The organically certified coffee beans are sourced from farmers all over the world while ensuring their families are paid a sustainable living. Unlike commercial coffee, premium beans are roasted locally in small batches. This is your chance to taste the authentic flat white coffee, famously claimed to be a Kiwi-pioneered drink.
7. RWANDA PAVILION: The last zone of the Rwanda Pavilion has a café with authentic coffee and tea for visitors. Rwandan coffee is renowned for Arabica beans of the bourbon variety with rich flavour, high acidity and berry undertones, one of which is black currant.
- Input by Zaynab Kamran, Staff Writer
Try these coffee recipes at home - Turkish coffee and Affogato and tell us how you like your cup of coffee at food@gulfnews.com
