Coffee and Hospitality in Saudi Arabia

 

 

Please mind the comment specifications! [1]

My initial interest in oriental coffee preparation methods stems from reading Heimito von Doderer's "The Strudlhof Steps" [2]; I read the book around 2004. I later traveled to Vienna to see the Strudlhof Steps (see picture) for myself. In the novel, Turkish coffee is often served, and I remember frequently drinking coffee prepared this way at this time; that is, placing the coffee on the stove and letting it boil several times. Three years ago, I traveled to Jordan and encountered coffee and cardamom there [3]. Cardamom isn't for everyone, but I love this spice [4]. The coffee in Jordan is just as black as we drink it as a café americano, espresso, or simply as drip coffee. Now, in Saudi Arabia, I encountered a completely different kind of coffee, and this blog post will be about that.

There are various theories about the origin of the name "coffee." One traces it back to a former province, or rather, Kingdom of Ethiopia, called Kaffa [5]. More important, however, is the ancient Arabic term qahwah (َهْوَة). The Semitic root means "dark color"—and that's precisely the color that modern Saudi Arabian coffee lacks. Through the Turkish word kahve and then the Dutch koffie, it evolved into the English "coffee" and the German "Kaffee"; coffee/caffeine in English and Kaffee/Koffein in German.

Coffee conquered the world via Yemen in the mid-15th century, then Mecca and Medina, and finally Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Constantinople. Europe and the rest of the world followed later. As early as 1511, coffee was banned in Mecca because of its stimulating effects.

Is there such a thing as "Arabic coffee"? No! Boiling is typical, but that applies to cowboy coffee brewed over a campfire on the prairie just as much. The roasting varies greatly, from very, very light (Saudi Arabian coffee) to very dark. It is unfiltered and spiced. I had wondered whether the roast level affects the caffeine content, and yes, there is an inverse correlation between the two, but it's negligible. To put it more simply: caffeine is lost during roasting. It could also have been that the roasting process releases caffeine from its formation. It's good that we've cleared it up.

How is Saudi Arabian coffee prepared? First, the purist will insist on Khawlani beans (البن الخولاني) [6]. This is a coffee from the Khawlan Mountains, which stretch from the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia to the northwestern part of Yemen. It's nice if you have coffee like that, but it's irrelevant to the final result, as the coffee will be spiced. It should, however, be Coffea arabica. First, the coffee beans are only lightly roasted; sometimes cardamom is added during the roasting process. Then the coffee is ground. Water is brought to a boil in the traditional pot called a dallah (دَلَّة), and then the coffee is added and simmered for 10 minutes. Next, the spices are added. I've already mentioned cardamom, but cloves, saffron, ginger, and others are also used. Currently, I'm using cardamom and ginger. The coffee is served unfiltered in a small bowl called a finjan (فنجان). It's accompanied by a date.

Etiquette dictates that one holds the dallah in the left hand and pours from it in a high arc into the finjan in the right hand. One stands while doing this. Perhaps "pours" is too strong a word, as the cup is only filled to about a quarter full.

I have witnessed this form of hospitality in many places. Perhaps most impressively in the old city of Al Ula.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia and Islam have become sensitive topics, so I must communicate the conditions for comments more specifically. This travelogue is not the appropriate place for a discussion of human rights. This is something for Amnesty International [1a]. Such comments, including Islamophobic ones, will be moved to the spam folder.
[1a] https://www.amnesty.de/informieren/laender/saudi-arabien
[2] Heimito von Doderer: Die Strudlhofstiege: oder Melzer und die Tiefe der Jahre. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, München 2003. ISBN: 9783423012546.  The novel was published in 1951 and is set in 1910 (1911 and 1923-25). Thank you for your patience with this digression.
[3] This is the report on it:
Drinking Coffee and Tea in Jordan
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/11/drinking-coffee-and-tea-in-jordan.html
[4] Cardamom is very expensive because it is difficult to cultivate. I learned about it in Sikkim: the plant likes it nice and warm, but no direct sunlight, moist, but not waterlogged, and tall, but not too tall. Do you see the principle?
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_coffee and:
Ulrike Lowis: Everything about Coffee. Komet Verlag, Cologne 2017. ISBN: 978-3-86941-793-6.
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khawlani_Coffee_Beans 

.

 

Drinking Coffee and Tea in Jordan

 

You might have coffee or tea like you are used to in you home country or you choose to try the local way of preparing coffee and tea.

Coffee
Coffee (Al Qahwa) is prepared very much like Turkish coffee. It goes back to bedouin traditions. Usually it is boiled with cadamom seeds and the sugar is added afterwards but before pouring the coffee into cups. You will also find coffee boiled without sugar at touristic spots (ask for saddah - no sugar) [1]. Don't add milk – actually you won't be tempted in Jordan. And coffee to go is a no go in Jordan. It's something you do to relax, talk to others and therefore you drink it from small cups to be refilled.
Honoré de Balzac is an author well known for consuming lots of coffee. My contact in literature to the Turkish way of brewing coffee comes from reading Heimito von Doderer, an Austrian author [2]. When I've read „Die Strudlhofstiege“ I also used to brew coffee in this style; easy as in Cologne all you need you find in one of the Turkish supermarkets (my parents looked across the garden to the back part of one). In Vienna I specifiacally went to the Strudlhofstiege, but that's another story. So the coffee in Jordan evoked nice memories in literature. But I admit you can drink the coffee and be happy without any literary connotations.

Tea
Tea is boiled in the pot with sugar and herbs. There is sometimes mint added or thyme [3]. You might know the tea, which is brewed in the Maghreb region (Marocco, Algeria etc.), where they use green tea and mint and brew these together. In Jordan only black tea is used. In the traditional way it's served in glasses. To my surprise I found thyme in tea bags as an infusion like camomille, verbena or others.
But I liked best the tea, which had been prepared with a range of spices. Black tea and sugar are boiled and then cardamom, cinnamon (sticks) and sage are added. We sometimes drink sage as an infusion. This form of black tea was very tasty especially in the Wadi Rum after a sunrise in a hefty wind, much like depicted in the movie „The Martian“.

Take home messages
    * try to brew coffee or tea as mentioned
    * if you have the chance, visit Jordan (COVID won't last forever)

Links:
[1] https://wonderstourism.com/blog/coffee-in-jordan-art-and-culture/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimito_von_Doderer
[3] https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/jordan/articles/a-guide-to-ammans-tea-and-coffee-culture/

.

Methotrexate (MTX) and Caffeine

 

Recently I had written a blog post on Methotrexate (MTX) and Caffeine in German [1]. This is an offspring and not merely a translation of this article.

Klaus Krüger, a German Professor of Rheumatology based in Munich, told in an interview for BDI aktuell [a publication of the BDI, which stands for Berufsverband Deutscher Internisten - Professional Association of German Internists], that even though MTX is generally well tolerated, nausea is a common side effect. He mentioned coffee being able to alleviate this side effect.

As I've known Dr. Krüger for at least 15 years, I thought to look for the study not mentioned in BDI aktuell. He monitores, condenses and lectures on studies and won't give this kind of information without having read a study. And I've found a likely study by Dr. Anand Narayan Malaviya [2].

In his study, A.N. Malaviya examined the effect of caffeine on the symptoms of methotrexate intolerance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Caffeine (coffee / dark chocolate) relieved the symptoms of MTX intolerance in the majority of patients.

Let's look at some details of this study, which looked at 855 patients treated with methotrexate. 313 patiens did not have any MTX intolerance, leaving 542 patients with some degree of MTX intolerance. In 422 patients MTX intolerance did not require any intervention. 120 (14 % of the initial 855) patients had 'moderate' or 'severe' MTX intolerance. “Among these, 55 % had complete relief of symptoms and were able to continue taking the advised dose of MTX; 13.3 % had partial improvement and continued taking MTX but only with antiemetics; 7.5 % were minimally better but were somehow managing; 10 % were complete caffeine failure without any relief; 14.2 % did not like caffeine (coffee or dark chocolate) and did not want to take it.” Tea, not coffee is mostly drunk in the northern part of India.

I myself like coffee and dark chocolate, but I would have no hesitation in recommending tea drinkers to give it a try; however, precisely that was not tested. Dark chocolate and coffee contain slightly more caffeine when compared to tea. However, it is more important that the polyphenols in tea (e.g. epigallocatechin gallate) bind the caffeine and only release it in the intestine, which renders the kinetics different from those of coffee, for example. It may well be the case that the faster absorption of caffeine from coffee is more effective at preventing methotrexate nausea.

I've always been concerned about strategies to keep patients on MTX as it is very effective in itself or as a co-medication [3]. Give coffee a chance!


Links and annotations:
[1] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/07/methotrexat-mtx-und-kaffee.html – more annotations and links to texts in German there
[2] Malaviya AN. Methotrexate intolerance in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA): effect of adding caffeine to the management regimen. Clin Rheumatol. 2017 Feb;36(2):279-285. doi: 10.1007/s10067-016-3398-3. Epub 2016 Sep 6. PMID: 27596742.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27596742/
[3] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2015/05/methotrexate-and-hydrating.html

.

Muckefuck – English text

Yesterday I thought about the German word Muckefuck and today I could almost have looked at the origin of the F-word, if my PC would block such silly requests. But let's stay with Muckefuck. Mucke is a German slang word for music and Fuck is uh, yes, just not f*ck. Besides the German word Muckfuck has nothing to do with the English word motherf**ker!

Muckefuck sometimes refers to thin coffee, but mostly it’s used for substitute or ersatz coffee, e.g. made from chicory roots. Mucke goes back to Mucken or Mulm and the German adjective fuck means foul, rotten. Mulm refers to decayed, rotten plant parts and also humus soil.

Am I now starting to drink Muckefuck? No, no chance! I drink cold coffee because of the caffeine.

Links:

http://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2019/01/muckefuck.html (German text)

.

Caffeine Stimulates Hepatic Lipid Metabolism

Recently I’ve read a short article in German concerning coffee and liver cirrhosis [1]. In this short article, it was believed that "coffee has a favorable impact on metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, and non-alcoholic fatty acid inflammation [NASH], and even counteracts obesity and overall mortality." And: "The positive effects appear to be primarily in caffeine-containing filter coffee." I recall an earlier Swedish study that certain lipids were retained by the paper filter as they compared the Swedish way of brewing coffee pressing the fluid through a mesh in a jug with the method of retaining the ground coffee in a paper filter in terms of hypercholesterolemia.

There has been a study on mice published in the journal Hepatology [2]. According to the authors of this study “caffeine has a potent effect in lowering levels of hepatic lipids by activation of autophagy in cell culture and in vivo”. “Because there still are no approved drug therapies for NAFLD [nonalcoholic fatty liver disease] understanding the mechanistic basis of action of natural dietary products such as caffeine offers further insight into developing drugs for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD.”

D.M. Torres and S.A. Harrison had written on: Is it time to write a prescription for coffee? Coffee and liver disease [3]. “Reduced hepatic fibrosis seems to be specific to caffeinated coffee and does not seem to be shared by other caffeinated beverages.” “There are approximately 1000 substances in coffee, including caffeine, diterphenoic alcohols, potassium, niacin, magnesium, and the anti-oxidants chlorogenic acid (CGA) and tocopherols.”

Coffee that contains caffeine and has been brewed with the help of filter paper may help in the prevention and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and other diseases.

PS. The best way to brew coffee still is manually using filter paper in a porcelain filter cone - just like Mum & Dad were brewing coffee in 50ies or 60ies.

Links:

[1] https://www.leberhilfe.org/kaffee-bei-fettleber-besser-mit-filter/

[2] https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hep.26667

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23453671

.

Cold Brewed Coffee

I like to drink cold coffee. Lately someone suggested that one can extract coffee into cold water and need not brew coffee with hot water. Other people tell me, that the best coffee is freshly hand filtered coffee (no automatic drip or espresso). But as I like my coffee cold, I have to wait for the coffee to cool down. And I have to defend my coffee, at least here in hospital, as people (for the most part new nurses) feel inclined to pour away cold coffee.

Cold brew coffee, however, isn’t what I have in mind. That’s a concentrate, which might be used to make hot coffee. But then, you could use instand coffee instead.

You can look at the link that I already have experimented with brewing coffee differently. I use a tea bag with two coffee spoons of coffee and put it into a mug of cold water. Even as early as two hours later I have a drinkable coffee. With the concentrate you let the coffee brew for 18-24 hours.

Some people told me that cold brewed coffee contains more caffeine, but others doubt this. Maybe cold brewing means extracting less acids and/or compounds binding caffeine, so that more caffeine is available – but that’s a hypothesis I cannot verify. Cold brewed coffee tastes less bitter, it has even a bit of sweetness.

Link:

Coffee - a Remarkable Experience in Argentina - http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/11/coffee-remarkable-experience-in.html

Coffee - a Remarkable Experience in Argentina

A couple of months ago we had a discussion on Twitter at the German speaking corner on what to do, if you run out of paper filters for the drip. There are instant coffee, coffee pads, French press, Nespresso (actually I don’t consider this as coffee), and more - but you might not have this at home, because you believe in the coffee drip (e.g. flat bottom filter, syphon, clever dripper). You have coffee, but you lack the filters. And you don't have a French press down device. One solution could be paper towels, which one folds to make a filter. We came up with using tea filter bags, which you fill with coffee instead of tea. We thought we were inventive.

I still think we were and I've used this method, when I only wanted to brew a single cup of coffee. But have a look at what I've found in a hotel in Mendoza, Argentina. On a dim day I wanted to brew a coffee or a tea. I didn't see the usual instant coffee and thought I had to make tea, when I found this:

... café en saquitos - and how to make the coffee.