Arabic coffee, well-established customs and traditions that have no equal in the world
Since its discovery between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AD in Abyssinia, and its transfer to the Arabian Peninsula and from there to the world, coffee is no longer just a normal drink for the Arabs. Over the centuries, different rituals arose in the Arab region about the ways of making, serving and eating coffee, the most prominent of which are the customs of Having coffee in the Gulf region in particular, which reflects the heritage of this region in the plenary sessions and showing generosity, hospitality and affection for each other.
In other words, coffee in the Gulf sessions carries a much greater meaning than drinking this drink and transcends it into a well-established popular and social ritual that is not found in the whole world.
Arabic coffee serving habits
Coffee among the Arab tribes has rituals that must be carefully followed, and its breach is considered one of the doors of lack of manners or lack of tact, and its absence indicates the lack of generosity of its owner or the deviation of the host from the fixed rules inherited for coffee drinking sessions.
These rituals may change slightly from one Gulf country to another, but they remain similar in general. In any Gulf coffee session, whether this session is at home, in the desert, or on a fishing trip, 3 things must be present: soap or what is called ( coffee house ), and coffee, and guests.
Let's start with the coffee.
Usually, he is young, and an elderly person may not assume this responsibility, whether he is the host himself, or any of the guests or attendees voluntarily undertake this task, except by agreement. Often the coffee drinker is a young man from the host family.
The whole coffee bean pourer, he should be standing while pouring coffee for the guests, holding the coffee suit with his left hand, while serving the coffee cups with his right hand. And when presented to the guest, he should make a slight bow towards the guest in respect of him and help him pick up his cup correctly.
The beginning of the application must start from the head of the council, or the oldest person in the family or tribe. Then the youth would head towards the right of the assembly, and start pouring coffee from right to left, following the honourable Sunnah of the Prophet, then back again and so on.
Usually, as a matter of etiquette, the boy makes a slight crackling from the impact of the bowl and the cup to alert the guest to pick up the cup from it if he is busy talking with another person, or the place is tainted by a loud sound. However, this movement is refrained from performing in some areas in the Gulf during sad occasions such as mourning.
We come to the coffee itself
The amount of coffee served in a cup of Arabian coffee bears an important indication of the extent of welcoming the guest, although this custom varies from one region to another. In some Arab sessions, the sign of honouring the guest is not filling the cup with more than half of it in the first pour, and only filling one-third of the cup, which is what is called B: Soba decency, to encourage the guest to ask for more.
Often, coffee is not served without " Hala ", a kind of dessert that relieves the guest of the bitterness of coffee, especially if the coffee served to him is completely free of sugar.
As for the guests and their coffee drinking habits
The guest should drink more than one cup to indicate his appreciation for the generosity of his host. Sometimes, and in some tribes, a guest drinking one cup of coffee may indicate his dissatisfaction, but this is not necessary and not always.
As soon as the guest returns the cup to the bowl, the coffee shop takes over to refill it and serve it to him again without the guest having to ask him to do so. But if the guest shakes his cup after he empties it, this means that he has had enough of coffee and does not want to drink more of it.
The tradition of some Arab tribes indicates that their respect for the coffee sessions that bring them together has reached the point that if a guest wants a specific thing from his host, he puts the coffee cup on the ground and refrains from drinking. This sign identifies the host that one of his guests needs for him so that if he makes it up to him, the guest returns to drink his coffee. Once again, the word from him is to be satisfied.
As for the number of times that coffee is served to the guest, it has special names and rituals also in the Gulf customs for drinking coffee. In some tribes, the first cup is called the " Half ", which is the cup with which the council opens and the host drinks it in front of his guests to prove to them that coffee has nothing in it. hurt them. As for the second cup, it is called the guest cup, and it is the cup that the guests drink as a sign of their honour on the part of their host.
The third cup is called the cup of coffee, and it means that the guest liked the taste of coffee, enjoyed its taste, and asked for more of it. Then comes the fourth cup, " the sword cup ", which is a symbolic meaning that the guest has become completely comfortable in his sitting with his host and that he has become a part of his clan to the extent that he is preparing to stand with his host. In the event of any injury or assault.
Finally, fortunately, these Gulf habits of drinking coffee on social occasions are well-established in a way that is not afraid of disappearing. The cup of Arabic coffee will still be rotated In Gulf homes, meetings, and outings, with different customs among the tribes, no matter how advanced the time and no matter how high the skyscrapers were in the Gulf cities.