Highlights from World of Coffee Dubai 2023
World of Coffee Dubai 2022 was the talk-of-the-town when the first edition was announced in the fourth quarter of 2019. As the curtains of that event closed, it promised an even bigger event the subsequent year. This year’s event hosted more than 12,000 visitors, a twofold increase from last year.
More unique experiences were on offer this year’s exhibition which included several coffee tasting sessions, the National Barista Championship, lectures, workshops, rotating brew bars, and so much more. This was a stand-up show thanks to the efforts put in by the Specialty Coffee Association and DXB LIVE.
Unlike last time, I had to attend all three days. A plan was put into place to systematically take off from work, and visit every stall at the event. To my dismay, I could not visit every booth and there was so much more I missed out on. I have summarized my experience below. You will also love my friend, Lameen’s rendition of the World of Coffee Dubai on his blog. Check it out here.
Slayer
I don’t remember the first coffee I had at last year’s World of Coffee but I’ll definitely remember this year’s. A Slayer that was teased a few months ago on the Cimbali Group Dubai’s Instagram — see-through, two-group, customized to perfection in glass, black chrome and wood that is clearly not grown in this part of the world.
Seven Fortunes Coffee Roasters was behind this beautiful machine on the first day and Windu Alifart was keen for us to try out their Guatemala Finca el Gigante Anaerobic on espresso. I was determined to try it as a flat white and I have to say that this was one of the most notable milk beverages I have had in this event.
Bevarabia
After being invited to be a panelist on The Future Trends in Specialty Coffee and Tea Market for the GCC at Organic & Natural Products Expo Dubai in December last year moderated by Lameen Abdul Malik, I was least expecting to walk in with Vivek Hans, CEO of Bevarabia, who was also a panelist with me.
By default, I had to make my way to Bevarabia’s stall right after, to be greeted by a slew of Astoria Storm espresso machines, and one in particular stood out, finished in dashing red. Vivek handed us over to Sospeter Abdallah, specializing in sales and training.
Bevarabia, being a leading provider of innovative and niche beverage solutions across the GCC, Peter went on to explain the functionalities of the machine while masterfully preparing espresso from Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. 30 minutes in and I am already down to two coffee beverages. Bring it on!
Que Coffee
Photo by Que Coffee.
Que Coffee’s humble beginnings started as a coffee equipment supplier in the emirate of Al Ain, UAE. Their booth at World of Coffee displayed a plethora of Rocket espresso machines followed by the latest roasting machines from Coffee-Tech Engineering.
From the looks of it, the team at Que Coffee have taken roasting seriously and created their own coffee brand called The Herder lead by Ali Husnain, Q Arabica Grader and Coffee Professional, and Mohammad Uzair, Water Chemist and Student of Coffee.
The branding of The Herder is based on the mythical story of Kaldi, a goat herder in the mountains of Ethiopia, who discovered the coffee cherries nibbled by his goats. Newly released coffees include Ethiopia Rogicha Anaerobic, Brazil Vale Del Sol, and Colombia Geisha King Arthur.
Brewing Gadgets
I am not sure if Brewing Gadgets need any kind of introduction in the UAE specialty coffee industry. This was probably one of the most diverse and popular space at the event which comprised of an area showcasing equipment, tools and coffee machines, Marco Beverage Systems, BWT and Drink Morning.
The Brewing Gadgets’ brew bar hosted roasters such as Grandmother Coffee Roastery, Kanaka Specialty Coffee, Gold Box Dubai, Typica, Blacksmith Coffee Company, Tres Maria Coffee Company, Surge Coffee Roasters, Roast Story and Falcon Coffee Roasters.
Some of the prominent coffee personalities that were present at the stall were Yasuo Suzuki, Elysia Tan Zi Hui, Ginny Tanand Yaksh Shree. A Roest was placed right beside the brew bar and Anthony Papandreou manually roasted some Ethiopia Guji explaining the functionalities of the machine. Every time I see this beautiful machine, the more I want it!
It is also worth mentioning that Brewing Gadgets’ technical team did the installations of the World of Coffee Brew Bar, the Cupping Room, the National Barista Championship Competition and Roasters Village areas. That's a total of 54 espresso machines and 108 grinders. Phenomenal!
Coffeedesk UAE
Coffeedesk UAE, the Middle-Eastern version of Europe’s leading coffee product distributor, was creating all the buzz by hosting a massive brew bar takeover of 14 coffee roasters including their very own in-house ROR Roastery, Coterra Coffee Roasters and Cosmic Garden Coffee amongst many others.
Photo by Coffeedesk UAE.
During my visit to their massive stall, Alex Shvedov, Creative Director, showed us around emphasizing on the pretty colors of the Moccamaster while I expressed my desire for the Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2.
Map It Forward Podcast by Lee Safar
I have been listening to Lee Safar for as long as I remember. Ever since Mark Stewart, a good friend and founder of Nitro Coffee Solutions, introduced me to an online event called The Global Coffee Townhall by Map it Forward. Highlights here.
When I found out that Map It Forward is the official podcast partner of this year’s World of Coffee Dubai, I had to try and meet with her. Meeting her exceeded every expectation I had in my head. We discussed about her insights of the UAE coffee industry, her live podcasting experience, and introduced us to the legendary Tim Tam Slam.
What are Tim Tams, you ask? They are chocolate-cream filled chocolate biscuits separated by a layer of chocolate-cream filling, and cladded in a layer of chocolate. If that’s not enough chocolate, I don’t know what is.
The opposite corners of the biscuit are bitten off, dunked in a milk coffee beverage or in our case, it was a beautiful filter coffee roasted and brewed by Stitch Coffee’s Nawar. Now imagine the Tim Tam is a straw and slurp the coffee through the Tim Tam. You are not done yet, pop the gooey treat into your mouth in one go and enjoy.
La Marzocco
Photo by FLTR Magazine.
My curiousity to visit the La Marzocco’s True Artisan Cafe was to check out the recently launched Linea Micra. It’s unreal how much smaller it is compared to the Linea Mini. The Cafe Rider team namely Ruthie Knudsen and Gideon Cañido brewed back-to-back on both machines. This was a good time to rest my caffeine-filled aching legs and enjoy another cup of coffee, and this time it was an Ethiopia Uraga Suke roasted by Cafe Rider themselves.
Intellect Coffee
The famous C Wagon from Intellect Coffee was parked right next to the La Marzocco stand and a blazing red Linea Mini was fixed in the trunk. Kong, one of the lead trainers, put the work in, espresso after espresso, and the machine didn’t seem to break a sweat. He also gave us a 101 on steaming milk. The Intellect Coffee team never falls short of sharing their valuable advice.
Present and Future of Guatemalan Coffees
Officials from Guatemala including Willy Gomez, Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala to the UAE, representatives of Anacafe, and key members of the SCA were present at Mokha 1450 to talk about the new branding of Guatemalan Coffees, and the celebration of Guatemalan coffee during the World of Coffee Dubai.
Synesso
When Ryan Godinho flaunted the new Synesso ES1 some time back for the prosumers out there, I knew instantly that this is the one to be had. It was paired with a Bentwood grinder and the combination looks great!
Harvestbelt
Photo by Harvestbelt.
Harvestbelt, a specialty coffee importer based out of the UAE that supplies high-grade, traceable and ethically sourced green coffee for the UAE market, was exhibiting at the Roasters Village hosting some of the biggest names in their brew bar such as Cafe Rider, Hermoso Coffee Roasters, Falcon Coffee Roasters, The Santuario Project, Catur Coffee Co., SMC Specialty Coffees.
Having tasted some of their delicious lineup last year December during a cupping session, I didn’t expect much for World of Coffee. Boy oh boy, was I wrong? Siddhanth Mithari brewed a very special Campo Hermoso Caturra Wine Yeast Honey Carbonic Macerated Colombia by The Santuario Project. Believe me when I tell you, the notes were as mouthful as the name above.
Subko Coffee Roastery
Photo by FLTR Magazine.
Now that I can order Subko Specialty Coffee Roasters’ coffee from India, I no longer feel the void I felt after meeting Rahul Reddy, the co-founder, at the World of Coffee Dubai 2022. Subko has come a long way since then, from the creative viennoiseries to the newly launched pod to bar specialty cacao.
The Project Pearl, an exclusive launch for World of Coffee Dubai by the producers Ratnagiri Estate. The yeast fermented naturals are grown on the acclaimed hills of Baba Budangiri name after the myth of a 17th century Sufi. Baba Budan is said to have introduced the coffee plant in India by bringing seven green beans from the port of Mokha, Yemen.
Meeting Mr. And Mrs. Patre, producers of Project Pearl, last month was an enlightening experience, to say the least. They dropped by on the last day of the event for a Q & A. The design team at Subko designed the packaging stemming around the producer’s childhood memorabilia.
As usual, Rahul had big plans and wanted to expand beyond Roasters Village. Lionel Crasto, from the Subko Coffee Education Team took charge of the Slayer Espresso bar on pulling various Indian specialty microlots with the prime focus being the Koji Fermented Natural lot by KDP Estate, Karnataka.
Photo by FLTR Magazine.
Blue Tokai Coffee Roastery
Being an Indian myself, I have absolutely no idea about the specialty coffee scene in my own country. Pranav Sawhney, Marketing Director of Blue Tokai Coffee Roastery, pulled me up to speed with what’s brewing. Launched in 2013, they are India’s largest, fastest-growing and most loved specialty coffee brand.
Photo by FLTR Magazine.
The Anaerobic Natural processed Riverdale Estate Florals is a prime example of what you don’t expect coffee from the Indian subcontinent to taste like. You have, yet again, another example of an Indian based specialty coffee roaster making all the waves in this event.
Three Coffee
Three Coffee has always been on the forefront of exploring beautiful coffees, and this time around they featured the same from extraordinary producers such as Mokha not Mocha!, Finca Hartmann, Qima Coffee, to name a few.
Photo by FLTR Magazine.
Drew Dennehy was also competing for the UAE Barista Championship, placed in the Top 6. For his competition coffee, he used a blend of anaerobically fermented naturally processed Typica and Caturra varietals, from what I understand had taste notes of fruity milkshake.
Mokha not Mocha!
The highlight of visiting Three Coffee was when Drew Dennehy introduced me to AbdulRahman, the founder of Mokha not Mocha! Our conversation started with him not putting my tasting skills to the test, not to correctly guess the notes of the coffee I am tasting but to enlighten him with how his coffee made me feel.
My reply was “uplifting” which seemed to resonate with him and was along the lines of what he had received. The name he chose for his company makes quite an impression but his values of using truth and knowledge in the highest regard to create a lasting impact is what got me hooked to conversing with him.
Archers Coffee
If you claim to be a resident of Dubai, and love coffee, then it is incumbent upon you to know the finest coffee roaster in the UAE — Archers Coffee. On the pourover bar was Wilden Pretorius, this charismatic South African knew his charming personality was drawing the crowds towards him.
He knew he needed to brew something sublime to please his guests, and what better coffee to brew to uplift than a Yemeni known to capture the essence of what this origin is all about.
I was no stranger to this lot though. From the farms of Al Sanaa’ this coffee tasted like I was in Bateel biting into a succulent date coated with caramel and honey. Looks like AbdulRahman from Mokha not Mocha has yet again made quite an impression with his coffee.
I could not move ahead without having a word or two with Purna Gaudel, the head roaster at Archers Coffee. This knowledgeable yet humble gentleman suggested I opt for a flat white with the Guatemala Pacamara Finca Cuxinales. Never have I ever had so many milk based coffee beverages in one day. I suspect I’m not done yet.
April Coffee Roasters
Photo by FLTR Magazine.
Last year, I backed up the April Coffee Roasters’ Kickstarter project: Patrik Rolf’s first book called From Nerd to Pro. Let me tell you first hand without any spoiler alerts, it’s great. It’s concise, easy-to-read, and he has a knack for writing. So much so that I enjoyed reading about his coffee journey that I was actually inspired.
I am currently writing an article pulling out the best insights from this book and how I resonate with it. No spoiler alerts in this one, but I highly recommend you pick up the book and read. Patrik gives the reality behind opening a coffee business and mind you, it’s not all flowers and rainbows.
Photo by Brat.
I had the slightest idea after that I would ever get to meet him but lo and behold Patrik was very much present at the World of Coffee Dubai. I’ll be honest, I tried not to act like a fanboy but it was hard not to seem like one. He was brewing a washed Guatemalan Geisha. This was him sharing his vision of a beautiful sourced coffee true to the origin with Dubai. This was the epitome of April. I think I understand.
Earth Roastery
A familiar face at the Earth Roastery booth, Dodi Alsen invited us and suggested we try the Pearl Mountain, a funky coffee originating from India, an anaerobic black honey processed Catui, as a flat white. The pitch was enough to intrigue me, and it was every bit as delightful as Dodi said it would be.
Before leaving, he made us try a Brazil on pour over. Brazil has constantly surprised me recently as a pour over drink, but what I didn’t expect that it would turn out to be a Robusta. Earth Roastery has a unique strategy going on here, from what I could infer was of discover, and I am all for it.
Mattina Coffee
I have had some of the best conversations with the Mattina Coffee team, they always have rich stories to share from the origin. What better way to accompany these anecdotes with than a stunning Sumatra brewed by Maryam Tabatabaie, who also happens to be a Q Grader. This barrel fermented Typica had notes of berries, grapefruit and pomegranates accompanied by a pleasant winey forecast.
National Barista Championship UAE
Photo by Brewing Gadgets.
The competition was fierce this time around with some big names in the local coffee scene competing for the gold. Congratulations to Mariam Erin from Cosmic Garden Coffee for placing first, followed by Kemal Risyad of Archers Coffee and Nooran Albannay of Coffee Architecture placing second and third respectively.
Special Mentions:
Meeting the legend - Heleanna Georgalis
Who knew that I would get to meet the Heleanna Georgalis out of all the places. When Garfield, co-founder of Mokha 1450, introduced me and Lameen to her, it was a lightbulb moment for me. We did an experiment to taste coffees roasted more than 6 months ago last year and Heleanna’s coffee was one of them.
Heleanna Georgalis is the director of Moplaco, a green coffee exporting company, founded in the 1970s by her grandfather. We discussed issues of deforestation in Ethiopia, a raging situation overlooked by the locals and farmers. It’s so severe that in the last 50 years alone, the country has lost 98 percent of its forested areas, according to this article by World Economic Forum.
According to Global Forest Watch, Ethiopia had 12.4Mha of tree cover, extending over 11% of its land area, in 2010. In 2021, it lost 19.8kha of tree cover, equivalent to 10.3Mt of CO₂ emissions. For reference, 1 ton of CO₂ is equivalent to driving 23,000 miles in the average car once around the world.
Her need to highlight this extensive deforestation and environmental degradation left us feeling not only inspired but force ourselves to open our eyes to a harsh reality. The most meaningful conversation I have had in this event, and I plan to interview her very soon.
CoffeeHeads
Another fellow coffee head who I have never met, but me and Firas go way back when we collaborated to do a Moka Pot post for their fruity Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. It was a finally nice to meet Firas in-person and this time I could see him in action behind a slew of cameras gathering like-minded content creators to shoot. Looking forward to see the upcoming content, Firas.
Fantine
I met the co-founders of Fantine, Federico Miatton and Laura Amado, some time back to discuss the use of NFTs and specialty coffee, an article I wrote for Coffee t&i Magazine Issue #85. You can check it out here.
They have developed a blockchain-enabled platform to focus on empowering coffee producers to earn a fair price for their crops and become more independent from speculative commodities markets.
To my surprise, they emailed me on the first day of WoC Dubai to meet up during the event. It was an absolute pleasure as they introduced me to Wilton Benitez, award-wining producer from Colombia, whose coffee I have tasted many during my visits to Cypher Urban Roastery. A cupping session of his coffee was organized in the World of Coffee Dubai.
Summary
The buzz for this year’s World of Coffee Dubai is still in the air. The second edition concluded by raising the bar even higher for next year’s event. New relationships were established, acquaintance to remarkable personalities took place, and liters of coffees were consumed. Specialty coffee is not only about coffee after all, it’s the people behind the coffee. See you next year, World of Coffee Dubai!
