Emirati Gahwa with Saffron and Rose Water (Sheikh Zayed's Majlis)

The coffee served in Sheikh Zayed’s majlis, as the UAE Founder’s Office published it: beans roasted deep red over charcoal, boiled with cloves and saffron, and strained onto rose water. No cardamom.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Arabic Coffee page.

Ingredients

• 2 finjan (about ½ to ¾ cup) coffee beans, roasted and ground (see notes)
• 1 litre water
• 2 to 4 whole cloves
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 capful rose water
• 12 to 20 dates, to serve

Directions

1. If roasting your own green beans, pick them over, rinse them and dry them thoroughly, then roast them in a heavy pan over steady heat, stirring, for at least 30 minutes, until a deep reddish brown. Grind them finely.
2. Fill a dallah or pot with the litre of water and bring it to the boil.
3. Add the ground coffee, then the cloves and saffron.
4. Keep it boiling for about 10 minutes, watching that it does not boil over.
5. Put the rose water in a smaller serving pot or a vacuum flask and strain the coffee into it.
6. Let it settle for a minute, then serve a little in each small cup with dates.

Notes

Where this comes from After the recipe the UAE Founder’s Office shared at its ADIHEX 2026 pavilion, based on accounts from Sheikh Zayed’s coffee makers, as published by Gulf News (5 September 2026). The source sun-dries rinsed beans for at least two days and roasts them over charcoal in a traditional tawa. The measure The source gives “2 finjan” of ground coffee per litre. A finjan holds roughly 60 to 90 ml, so this is about ½ to ¾ cup; the conversion is an estimate. Serving With the right hand, the eldest or most honoured guest first, the cup only part filled (a full cup signals the visit is over). Sheikh Zayed took dates in odd numbers, three or more. The photo A finjan of Arabic coffee; it is not this recipe’s cup.