Dubai – In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is a hub for all kinds of exports but also a hotspot for trends. Meeting points in the region, the emirate’s coffeeshops, have also brought innovations in cuisine, culture, and coffee-based beverages. Pictured above, one of Nightjar Coffee’s stores at TimeOut Dubai.
This year, one of the innovations in the sector is the blending of coffee with another beverage at its peak: Kombucha. The new launch is by Rocket Bean Roastery, which won “The Most Innovative Beverage” category in the Innovation Award at the most significant food trade show in the Middle East, Gulfood.
Made from the fermentation of a culture of bacteria and yeast called ‘scoby,’ kombucha has gained fans who consume it as a healthy substitute for soft drinks, for instance.
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Entrepreneur Ancis Romanovskis, born in Latvia, decided to combine the properties of kombucha with cold-brewed coffee to create Rudy’s Kombucha. With a factory in his home country and a point of sale in Dubai, Romanovskis exports his products. According to the brand, the latest item is also 100% halal.
Another mix already known in the coffee world is nitro cold brew. In this case, the cold-extracted coffee has nitrogen added when served. Baristas draw coffee from taps such as used for beers which inject nitrogen into the beverage, and the result is a creamier and sweeter drink.
This method is found in coffeeshops like Nightjar Coffee, which has coffee and iced tea on tap in its Dubai points of sale. The café also invests heavily in aesthetics. The packages, with beans from countries such as Burundi, Guatemala and Brazil, are printed with artwork also found in products such as t-shirts and posters. Nightjar also buys and roasts microlots from different origins, such as neighboring Yemen or Ethiopia.
Another trend already becoming a reality is drip coffee. The product is ideal for those who want practicality to prepare a single cup of coffee. The ground coffee wrapper becomes a filter when opened and supported over a cup.
But with practicality also comes a greater volume of waste since few grams of coffee are individually packaged. Therefore, the new highlight is the compostable packaging. This is the case of the San Marcos and San Ramon brand from Costa Rica, which was also awarded at Gulfood in the ‘Best Packaging Design Impact’ category. According to the award’s organizers, the box for the coffee packs is also recyclable, and the art also influenced the prize.
With the hot temperatures of summer in the Gulf drawing near, cold drinks with coffee are booming, in more creative options like ice creams from Três Marias Coffee Company. The coffee shop owned by Brazil’s Maria Eduarda Becker sells coffee popsicles in the caramel latte, mocha latte, Spanish latte, pistachio latte, vegan babyccino and vegan macchiato flavors.
As with the popsicles, the café has plant-based milk options in all its beverages. The movement to add vegan milk has also been expanding, and notable brands can already be seen used by baristas in many parts of the emirate. Based on other brands’ innovations, plant-based products could be seen more and more often in the Gulf region.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
