I first met Mahad at Naseej Cafe. This specialty cafe Is located at the heart of all the coffee action in Sharjah: Muwielah. It’s one of the few cafes that I can safely say that are serving that consistent cup of coffee.

When you meet Mahad for the first time, you will notice he is humble, kind and soft-spoken. He knows his coffee inside-out and he will know exactly what you want to drink if you are confused.

Naseej Cafe uses beans by Hidden Coffee Roasters all the way from Barcelona. I am all in to support the local roasters but sometimes I get excited when I see an international roaster featured in a local cafe.

My favorite here was the Anaerobic Brazil which has undergone 130 hours of fermentation with prominent notes of apricot and pineapple. Their Mexican goes well on a Cortado and credit also goes to the barista.

Now, over to Mahad and his coffee journey.

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Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Mahad Bujingo and I am from Uganda. I have been working as a barista for a long time in the UAE, close to seven years now. I was previously part of the commercial coffee industry and now in specialty. I started my education in specialty coffee with a lot of self-study and certified courses, when I thought it’s the only way forward.

Some of the local business owners here in the UAE noticed my efforts, and invited me to join this industry. I started working in Zawaya Cafe in 2016, this was the first specialty cafe here in Muwailah, Sharjah. After two years, I joined Drowsy Coffee. After that journey came to an end, me and likeminded individuals decided to start Naseej Cafe as business partners.

After realizing that my background, education, and drive, I started developing this confidence to take the next step in my life. I believe that you need to clean your heart and to know who you are to serve a better cup of coffee. And, then I started looking for opportunities to take it to the next level.

No wonder the notes on this coffee I am having are crisp and clean like a washed Ethiopian. What happened after that?

When I was going to leave Drowsy Coffee, I thought to myself, why not open a coffee shop, to create a community of my own and serve a good cup of coffee. This is what I have worked hard for until this point.

I was trained by Agnieszka Rojewska from Poland, she became the first woman in history to win the World Barista Championship in 2018. She was trained by Sasha Sestic who was the World Barista Champion In 2015. This was in 2018, shortly after her big win. She was in Dubai to train for the barista foundation courses.

My journey to become a barista started way back when I was a farmer. We had a coffee farm and some cattle back in Uganda. At that time, we were growing robusta coffee. My journey from there was to Kuwait in 2013 and I had to practically hustle to survive, worked in various roles from being a house boy to sales.

I decided to move to Dubai after two years and researched more about the coffee industry in general. In 2017, I competed in the UAE Barista Championship and reached semi-finals. That was my first experience on the big stage which gave me a lot of confidence.

I love studying about coffee, and it started when I was a farmer, and when I became SCA certified it didn’t stop there. Yes, I am an SCA Certified Barsita. Learning never stops, there are new varieties being discovered, new methods, new processes, the industry is forever evolving and growing.

I want to inspire others to keep learning. Retaining your skills and knowledge is one thing, but to continuously educate yourself and adapt with the new trends and skills in this industry Is another. In specialty coffee brewing, there are two main methods that I tell everyone. Pour over like V60, Chemex etc. and then you have espresso and all espresso based drinks.

How did the vision of Naseej Cafe come into play?

When specialty coffee got me curious, I didn’t know where it will take me exactly. But, I knew one thing, to keep learning and trying to be different everyday. To the extent, I wanted it to be by the hour. That resulted in me being overwhelmed and taking too much on my plate. I took it slow, baby steps.

I wanted to develop myself professionally. I was inspired by many individuals along the way. I saw many baristas become partners in a business and I thought, why not me. I remember I was having a random conversation with an Emirati friend that I wanted to open a coffee shop, even if it’s small. I wanted to challenge myself. It was during the start of COVID in the UAE and it was a huge challenge.

I normally wouldn’t recommend anyone to open a coffee shop in Muwailah because there are so many already. A lot of my regular consumers knew me very well from Zawaya Cafe, it was a no-brainer. I knew who I was from the experience and confidence of working and networking in the industry. All of this lead to the opening of Naseej Cafe and it was a joint effort by all the partners involved.

I like the passion that you want to serve the customers so deeply and affectionately.

I put some chairs by the bar because I know customers love to sit with me and talk about coffee. People reserve those chairs sometimes so they can learn about coffee and different brewing methods. I always take a humanistic approach when dealing with a customer or my baristas.

I really can’t handle disappointment, I always strive to make the best cup of coffee for my customers. If anyone brings back a cup of coffee because they don’t like it, I can take up to a week to get over it. This happens especially if a barista is passionate about his art.

How was the National Aeropress championship experience for you?

I enjoyed the experience. From the Sharjah region, I reached the semi finals. It was hard and I congratulate Mohamed Alameeri for winning the 2021 UAE Aeropress Championship. It was a well deserved victory.

The Emiratis are very passionate about their coffee, that's for sure. What's next for Naseej Cafe?

Expanding in the near future. You will see more of Naseej around the UAE, God willing.

And you will find us rooting for you, God willing.

The Coffee Story: Mahad Bujingo

What I’m Brewing: Colombia La Esperanza by Mzllah

What I’m Brewing: Vietnam Catimor by CoffeeHEADS