The Coffee Story: Lameen Abdul Malik
The first guest in The Coffee Story is Lameen Abdul Malik, and also known as From Coffee With Love on Instagram, that’s his coffee brand and coffee blog. My interaction with Lameen started on Instagram, I am not sure how I came across his account but I found his posts and videos very informative and was curious about the coffee scene in Vienna. Yes, at the time he was based in Vienna and now he resides in Dubai.
He also goes by a very interesting term called “Coffeepreneur”, I have seen it used by a couple of people now after I saw it first on his account. Perhaps, he is the reason of starting this trend. This term has become part of his identity, he is passionate about coffee, and he has been writing on his blog for over 14 years. He was also featured on an article for CNN about drinking coffee in Vienna.
The first part of his coffee journey started almost 11 years ago, when he moved to South Africa to follow his dreams and open his own coffee and cake shop. He always believed that if you are passionate about something, you should endeavour to try it out at least once as a source of income, more on this in the interview. He is now based in Dubai and he is focusing on coffee once again with Sippy.
He is the reason why this blog exists, he planted this seed in my head earlier this year. Every time we visit a coffee shop, he would always remark that I start my own blog. Well, it’s happening and I have got many positive messages about it, so thank you Lameen. Keep reading to know his coffee journey and his newly launched espresso and filter blends.
Tell me a bit about yourself.
It depends on how much you want to know. So basically, I'm half English, half Nigerian. I've always been really fascinated by tastes. So much so, I always tell the story when I was in primary school and the teacher will ask everyone in the class, what are your hobbies? All the boys will shout, FOOTBALL! Even though I loved football back then, on my turn I'll answer, eating! You are bound to get all the looks for that strange answer.
I was also telling this story the other day about how my brother and I used to go these parties when we were young back in Nigeria, we would first go and look for the food. And once we have eaten, we will then play with the other kids. From that perspective, I was fascinated by things to do with food. I also love art and drawing.
When I first started tasting coffee in a different format, I was wowed! This was different, I needed to investigate more about why my taste buds were acting like this. I'm very intrigued by different cultures, intrigued by different tastes. I always want to learn about what's going on in the world. There's so much out there to explore. For me, coffee was really fascinating.
Picture credit: Sippy Beans
Apart from coffee, you have some other achievements which I would like you to mention. I know you are a really down-to-earth and a humble person, and this is a coffee blog, perhaps this is why you haven’t mentioned one your greatest achievements.
HAHA yes, in 2002, I went to work for one of the UN specialized agencies called International Atomic Energy Agency. I was working with the Department for Africa, we were using nuclear science and technology for development to help countries fight cancer, develop new crops, nutrition, and manage water resources. In 2005, during the time of the first Iraq war, the organization was recognized trying to prevent the war, and we were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
So yes, one of my achievements, Praise God, is that I'm one of the awardees. My colleagues and I were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. We were granted a million dollars, this obviously did not go to an individual, it went to the organization as a whole. And back then, I was working on a project to establish Zambia's first Cancer Hospital. It was decided that most of the prize money was to be distributed to cancer projects across the world. As I was working on the main project in Africa, I think I got roughly between 10% - 20% to manage my project to establish the first Cancer Hospital in Zambia.
You mentioned part of your coffee journey, but how did you actually discover coffee?
I used to always drink instant coffee many years ago and I started getting bored of Nescafé. Back then, late 90s, they started producing more innovative and expensive instant coffees like Carte Noire. Even Nescafé started experimenting with Arabica instant coffee. But then, my brother brought to my attention a French Press. He got me my first French Press and some coffee to experiment with.
And in 2004, we went to to Rome on holiday. My cousin is married to an Italian, and he gave me a Mokapot with some coffee to try out. This was a different way of drinking coffee for me. I already had a taste of expensive instant coffee, then French Press, and now this Mokapot. This redefined my taste for coffee.
As soon as I got back to Vienna, I bought a Mokapot but it had to be the original Bialetti Italian Mokapot. I had to source it online since I couldn’t find it in Vienna, this was the time when they just introduced a Bialetti Mokapot that guaranteed more crema. Naturally, that's the one I went for.
From then on, I decided to do a lot of research into espresso and I came across this website called CoffeeGeek. Back then, the concept of filter coffee did not exist, apart from French press. I was more intrigued towards espresso so I bought an espresso machine and started experimenting with many things, thickness of the espresso, the tiger flecking etc.
For e.g., to test the thickness of the crema, if you put a tiny spoon of sugar on top, it should take atleast seven seconds to sink. If it's less than that, then the crema is rubbish. Whenever I used to make it at home, I used this as a parameter.
I did a lot of research into coffee and if I wanted to have a cafe, I had to be a guru in coffee. My research was primarily on CoffeeGeek as i mentioned earlier, which was the main coffee website back then, and I bought any books on coffee that existed. I amassed a lot of knowledge on coffee and I thought to myself that I've got all this information, what should I do with it?
The answer was simple - let me just share it with the world. That how I created my blog in 2007, I launched From Coffee With Love. I started writing about all my coffee experiences, things about coffee and health, the history, what it tastes like from different parts of the world - what you can expect from an African coffee, South American, Central American, or Asian.
What was your first drink of specialty coffee? The first one is always a memorable one, because it can make or break the experience.
As I mentioned earlier on, back then specialty coffee was basically espresso and anything espresso based. It was before the Aeropress was invented and the V60 became recognized worldwide. There was a place in London called Flat White, Berwick St in Soho, started by a group of Australians from Melbourne.
Back then, Melbourne was the heart of really good coffee. There was a time when it was very easy for Australians to travel to the UK, and you have to give a lot of credit to them because it revolutionized the coffee scene in England by far, especially in London. Whenever I go to London, I used to go to Flat White. I knew the owner who started it, his name was Cameron.
This was the first time I ever saw something called latte art. Whenever you order a cappuccino you have this dry foam which on hindsight is nice, but obviously wasn't great. So, I’ll end up ordering a flat white, this drink is different compared to traditional cappuccinos. That was my first real experience with specialty coffee.
You also had a chance to meet James Hoffman, didn’t you? How was that like?
In about 2006, they started the first coffee conference called Cafe Culture. It was a two day event, it had everything to do with coffee, and all specialty coffee makers were there. The big players like Illy, La Marzocco, Sanremo, La Spaziale to name a few.
They used to always bring the WBC champion to this event, so I met James Hoffman there. He was basically making espressos and cappuccinos for anybody that wanted. I started chatting with him, asked him questions about coffee and learned a lot from him.
Your preferred brewing method? How do you enjoy your coffee?
This is going to be difficult to answer because I have different types of coffee drinks throughout my day. In the morning, it always has to be espresso based with milk. I love to start my day off with a cappuccino or a cortado. If I'm at home, I will make a cappuccino. If I go to a cafe, I tend to order more cortados. This is the only time I really have it or unless in the afternoon, I'm going somewhere I want to experiment or test the barista’s skills.
When it comes to the afternoon and the evening, and yes, I do drink coffee at night, it will be filter based. I love the Hario V60, not only does it give a fairly clean cup, but more importantly, I love the fruity elements of coffee using this method. From my experience, I can't find any other method that elevates the fruits in a cup of coffee more than the Hario V60.
I also use it as a measurement tool. If someone tells me that that their coffee is fantastic, I make sure to try it on the Hario V60. I find that it can expose a lot of faults in the coffee. In the morning, definitely espresso based. It is an expensive passion indeed, expensive and time consuming.
It's a passion within a passion project. It can frustrate you. I was just telling you earlier today that it took me three attempts this morning to get my espresso right for my cappuccino. The third one was good but it can be quite frustrating in the morning if you're rushing and you don't have time to get your coffee right.
We were also discussing about leaders and leadership in general, a little earlier today. Since you know a thing or two about it, what according to you makes a good leader in the coffee industry? Or in any industry.
There is a Hadith by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he says “a leader is a servant of the people”. My perspective for a leader is about servitude, empathy, and humility. In terms of running a business, or a coffee based business, I think that any leader should always be aware of what their staff is doing. If you run a coffee shop, you have to be the best barista or at least understand what goes into making a good espresso, or a good filter coffee. This will help you understand what your staff are going through.
Ten years ago, I had a cafe in Cape Town. What I would do, is set the parameters for my baristas daily. We always had a timer on top of the espresso machine to make sure that each shot would not be served to a customer unless it was done in 25 seconds getting roughly 25 ml of coffee out. I will test their skills in the morning, and then again in the afternoon. Different temperatures in a day can affect the coffee, that is why dialing the espresso is important.
Timing it right is important. 25 to 25, that's the rule I was using back then. Sometimes I’ll try the sugar test with the espresso to test the baristas. Check if the crema is thick enough, because you really need nice crema to make good cappuccino. Obviously in the cafe, you're going to sell more espresso and milk based coffee than filter. Even back then, I think we didn't do many filter coffees.
As a leader, you need to show empathy to your staff, understand what they're going through. Be aware of what your customers like and what they don't like. Be there for them, talk to them, understand what they like. It was never the same everyday with different people coming in talking to you about different things. Sometimes it's coffee, food, or even politics.
Always lead from the front. Even if your staff has made a mistake, apologize on behalf of the staff. Don't blame the staff. Definitely not in front of everybody and help them see that a mistake was made but it's not the end of the world, how can we correct this? Lead with humility and honesty. Make your staff feel that they're also special.
Blaming your staff in front of the customers can have a negative impact on them. That's a very good point.
Richard Branson said it really well, “If you treat your staff right, they will treat your customers right.” That's something I really resonate a lot with. There's a lot of positive energy that is transmitted from your staff when people enter the cafe, smiling and greeting, that positive energy comes into how you prepare that coffee as well.
I'm also a baker and when you bake something to show off, it's not going to taste right. But if you bake it with love, trust me, it's going to taste different. You can share a recipe, but if you don't bake it with the right intention, it’s never going to taste the way it’s supposed to. The recipe is there but it's your intention of how you prepare it.
Let’s talk a little more about your cafe in Cape Town. It was a successful business, can you give the readers some pointers to affectively manage a cafe to success.
I've actually designed a course on how to run a coffee business. I don't know if I'll ever have time to launch it. But one of these days, God willing, I will. I have four points to make:
Share any problems or challenges you're having in your business with people that are not in the industry.
First, listen to your wife. And that's based on the fact that when we talked earlier about the Nobel Peace Prize. When I had my cafe, I just wanted people to come and have good coffee. My wife actually wanted me to tell my customers about the Nobel Peace Price. But I didn’t find it relevant. Eventually, I kind of did listen to her, and put up my placard in the cafe.
With that, news travelled fast and a pool of people came in to see the cafe. They wanted to see the placard and take a picture with me. The lesson here is that even if you own a cafe, you can always learn from other people. My wife doesn't even drink coffee but she knew that there are other things that people get attracted to when you have a coffee shop.
Share any problems or challenges you're having in your business with people that are not in the industry. They might actually surprise you and have some really good feedback.
Never neglect your history.
Because your history is actually what makes you. You can always tell a story about what you've been through, and this can help with people to connect with you more on the personal level.
Being empathetic with your staff and your customers.
Just being there and showing your human side. They can connect with why they're coming to the cafe, making them feel safe in this space. I am not talking about physical safety, but a safe place for them to express themselves and share ideas with you. We all live in an interconnected world.
You can also share what you learn because people get drawn to people's passions. When I had my cafe, I didn't become rich and I didn't really make any money from it. But people knew that I was really passionate about it.
Some people that came to my cafe never used to drink coffee, they just came their for the atmosphere or to drink juice. I always said to them to try our coffee. But, they responded saying that they hate coffee and it’s bitter. To that I said, if you hate the coffee, it’s on me and you don’t have to pay for it.
And I'm glad to say that a lot of them actually became coffee lovers. They found that our coffee tastes sweet even without any sugar. It’s simple really, if you just follow the rules of making coffee and source the best type of coffee, you don't have to put five to six spoons of sugar in it.
If you can't outsell your competition, out teach them.
I used to have free coffee tasting sessions on Saturday mornings to teach people about coffee. They always want to learn about what is coffee, and why it tastes different from various parts of the world. People love to learn different things so that they can just tell their friends or share with their family.
More lessons to learn when I launch my course soon.
Looking forward to it, Lameen! How did this passion turn into a business for you?
People have heard a lot of quotes like, always follow your passion and things will work out. There's a bit of truth to that, but I think you have to really manage that. What I like more is, follow your heart but bring your head with you. You might be passionate about something, but just don't run it without having the necessary skills.
No matter what you're passionate about, you always have to make money from it. You have got to pay your bills. One of the things that I like to emphasize is that if you're passionate about something, make sure you really care about it. There’s this Japanese concept called Ikigai which have elements like: what you love, what you're passionate about, what the world needs, what you can get paid for, and what you're good at.
What you're good at doesn't necessarily have to be what you're passionate about. You could be a fantastic accountant, and also a coffee lover. So, that means you know how to work figures but you might not know how to make good coffee. But, your accounting will really help in running the business.
Also, try to understand, what does the world need? Does the world need more sustainable coffee? What about organic coffee? Do they need coffee that's more environmentally friendly? Do they need coffee that is sweeter? For example, there are some cafes I know in America and even in England where they don't offer sugar with the coffee.
If you come to the cafe and you want some sugar with the coffee, they’ll show you the way to Starbucks down the road. That might seem like a little bit extreme, but that means that they are really passionate about the product.
They're not doing it for the money. Some of those businesses I know did not survive, sadly. That's one extreme, it's good to make really great coffee. But, I think it's also important to educate people about coffee, how it tastes different with sugar and without sugar.
You need to infuse passion into what you're doing. Think of passion as the engine running the car. You just can't drive the car with an engine, you needs to have a safety seat - let's call that your financial background, your financial cushion, for example. But you also need to know that if you're passionate about something, you're going to enjoy it.
I always tell people that when I had my cafe for three years, I had to be at the cafe every morning at 6:30am. I never ever woke up those three years saying or complaining that I'm going to work. It never entered my mind. And in fact, I don't know how to describe the feeling of running your own business with passion. This feeling lasted for at least three to four years after running my cafe. I just can’t portray it in words.
I wish everybody would experience this feeling, you feel like you're really content about everything. When you've run your own cafe or you've pursued your own passion project, there is something that you acquire. It puts you into this kind of state of peace, and bliss.
When I went back to working for the UN, I would often listen to my colleagues complain that they can't wait for Friday, or they hate Monday mornings. I just couldn't relate to them. Because I still had this feeling of owning my own cafe.
So, from that perspective, I would always encourage people to follow their passion, but you should always do a little bit background work, and hire people that can help with other parts of the business. I don't drink Starbucks anymore, but one of the things Howard Schultz who founded the company said, “If you can't do something, hire someone who can.”
Don't try and do everything by yourself, that's one of the lessons I learned. If you can't make a good espresso, hire a top barista. If you don’t know how to do your books, hire someone that that can run numbers. Focus more on the creative side. Don't bog yourself down with running the company.
When you want to scale up, focus on the passion aspect, because that's where you're going to bring that kind of creative energy into the company. I definitely advocate that you should always follow your passion or at least try it once. Don't regret on your deathbed.
I wish I had started off with this question, that would pump anyone up. I’m not sure if everyone is aware that you have launched your coffee recently. Can you tell us more about your espresso and filter blend? Where did this idea originate from?
As you get older, you get more fussy, and you think to yourself that there are things I really want to do in my life. I always dreamt about having my own coffee brand called From Coffee With Love by Lameen Abdul Malik. That was one of my dreams.
Picture Credit: Sippy Beans
And what I loved when I first moved to Dubai, I met up with the Managing Partner from Sippy Beans. And she asked me if there was anything that they could do for me? I asked her if she could help create my own coffee blend? She not only said yes, but now it’s reality. I was quite blown away.
I thought to myself if it was that easy. But to be honest, it wasn't. If you focus on what you really want, I believe that God will send people your way that will help you. And from that perspective, I met Sippy Beans along the way. Kudos to them.
To create the blend, I started off with the espresso blend because that's how I start my day off. To develop an espresso blend is more complicated than filter. With filter, you can do a single origin, but I'll come back to why I have a filter blend instead.
As I mentioned to you, I always like exotic things, things that taste a little bit unusual. One of the exercises to select the coffee for the blend, we had to go for multiple coffee tasting sessions. After about 10 to 12 cups, I knew instantly that this was the coffee I imagined.
We obviously had to have a taste of the blend with my preferred way of making coffee in the morning, and it had to be milk based. I like coffee with milk to have more of a bold taste, the coffee that we have is a combination of Brazil and Indonesia.
Brazilian coffee tend to be more bold, chocolate with a bit of a nutty undertone. And for me, I love that cocoa-nutty blend with milk. With the Indonesian, this is a place where a lot of spices are grown. The coffee from here has predominant notes of spice like vanilla and hints of tobacco. You might think that tobacco is bitter, but if you mix tobacco with something sweet, you can actually have a pleasant aroma.
Some of the key notes in terms of perfumes for men actually have a little bit of tobacco in them. If you mix tobacco, vanilla, and cedar wood, it’s a very pleasant smell. From that perspective, you get the aroma from the Indonesian coffee - the tobacco and the spicy vanilla. This is a love in a cup, because it's a little unusual, tasting different on the middle of the tongue with the boldness and spicy undertones. I'm not a fan of fruit notes with milk, I'll be honest with you. But I like that aspect of chocolate, vanilla and spicy notes.
I've had the pleasure of having your coffee and for me, just one word comes to my mind - comforting. I can imagine myself sitting in front of a fire, it's cold outside, sipping on the coffee with those notes of chocolate, vanilla and spicy is love in a cup, indeed. I know you've opted for the Brazil and Indonesia for the espresso blend. Why not Yemen and Indonesia? You know, the historic Mocha Java, just to pay tribute, I guess.
When I was tasting the coffee, I did not know where they originated from. It was a blind tasting. I described to the coffee roastery that I wanted something that has notes of cocoa, caramel, macadamia, vanilla and aspects of love.
I always called coffee, the Drink of the Escapists, also the name for my blends. This is because you can get coffee that is harvested in Africa, shipped to and roasted in London, and then you drink it in Paris.
Most of us who drink coffee don't tend to be from a coffee growing region and just like you described when you were drinking my coffee while you imagined yourself in front of the fire, you can drink it and be anywhere in the world. You can drink a cup of cup of coffee by yourself and your mind can flow to somewhere different.
What about your filter blend? This is what I’m most excited about since I can’t make espressos at home yet.
As you know, a lot of filter coffee are single origins. Back in 2010, all espresso was basically different blends. And every filter was always single origin. It could be rom a particular farm or region, in a country. From Ruiru, Kenya for example. Ruiru is just outside Nairobi, it’s like a commune or town. Coffee from here would be called Ruiru 11, which is basically Variety 11 from Ruiru.
I even mentioned this on my Instagram recently. Towards the end of a coffee bag, you might have 10 grams or so left. For V60, you might need a minimum of about 15 grams or 20 grams. What do you do? I grew up in a culture where I just find it criminal to throw anything away. I started blending the old remaining beans with a new one.
This gave me an idea, since everybody's doing single origins, why not a filter blend. I am not trying to disrupt the coffee scene, but as I said to you, coffee is the drink of the escapist. Can we have some coffee from Africa, Central America, Indonesia. Blend it, have it as a filter and just see what that’s like.
I'm half African, half European. If I’m going to have a filter blend, it has to be African coffee. I love coffee from Africa, especially Kenya. We are working with a Q Grader in Dubai, and the coffee we tasted was brewed on a V60.
My preference for the filter was hints of fruity, floral, and medium acidity. Since it was more or less blind tasting again, we ended up with two finalists after six or seven attempts. The coffee I chose turned out to be from Burundi and Uganda. An African blend.
Where can we find you online, Lameen? And how do we get to order your coffee?
You can find me on Instagram and Twitter. If you are looking for things about leadership and along those lines, you can me find me on LinkedIn.
For the coffee, it is a collaboration with Sippy Beans, they are a Dubai based Coffee Company that sources beans from different parts of the UAE and sells them online. The espresso blend and filter blend is roasted to order, it’ll be roasted fresh and sent out to you.
What is your definition of a great cup of coffee? Why the need for coffee?
When it comes to the need for coffee, I find it very fascinating from a taste perspective. I can also talk to you about all the health benefits, a lot of research has been done and published on a weekly basis.
Two or three facts I wanted to share with you, and a recent survey, coffee actually helps fight depression. Coffee is basically a fruit. There are a lot of elements and enzymes, I'm not a chemist, but a lot of chemicals in coffee that actually lift your mood up. It also helps in fighting Alzheimer's disease as well which is all proven.
It also helps with fighting some types of cancer, especially liver cancer, because coffee has got antioxidants. In fact, more than tea. Caffeine helps with weight loss and burning the fat in your body.
To make good coffee, just follow the rules like real life. I know I like to advocate for breaking the rules. On some things like coffee, you cannot. Bad coffee is when people try and cut corners, they grind incorrectly, use stale beans, or add different things to the coffee that might affects the flavor.
Coffee is a fresh product. So if you get fresh roasted coffee and brew it systematically, you will get the best elements of coffee. If you start compromising on the quality and if you buy greens that's been sitting idle for a year for eg., it's not going to taste the same as a coffee that was harvested three or four months ago.
That's how long it takes before the coffee actually comes to the table. You're not going to get coffee that was harvested yesterday on your table in New York or London. There's a drying process, the shipping takes time and then the quality control is pretty stringent.
Three facts about coffee that people generally get confused with. It’s time to bust some myths.
Usually people assume that espresso is very strong in caffeine, probably because of the strong taste, but it is not.
Caffeine is released in coffee with the amount of time it has in contact with water.
More contact time with water = more caffeine.
Which means, filter or French press which takes about 3 minutes or more to prepare will have more caffeine than espresso. Cold brew will probably have the most. That’s why some Italians drink up to ten espresso shots per day.
If you drink coffee at night, it will actually keep you up and you will have trouble sleeping.
This can depend and is not the case with everyone. Tolerance to caffeine varies with different people, some can’t drink past afternoon. I always drink coffee after dinner. Everybody is different.
Coffee is bad for you.
This is not true, the health benefits of coffee outweigh the bad. In the 70’s, coffee got a bad rep and it was tied to cancer. But that was mainly because a lot of people used to smoke and drink coffee at the same time.
What’s next for you, Lameen?
I need to speak to my partners about this, but I would like to pay homage to where I reside. I would love to do a blend that I think represents Dubai. So, stay tuned for that and I’ll see you soon.
But, before I go, we will have an exciting giveaway soon. And yes, it involves coffee.
