Beyond the grind

What is 'third-wave' coffee?

It has become the global coffee buzzword describing the latest evolution of cafe culture.

The term reportedly stems from the early 2000s, to describe a new artisanal approach to brewing.

It is one where coffee is discussed in similar terms to food, complete with its own flavour notes.

This meant a re-evaluation of the entire coffee-making process, from more emphasis on harvesting high-quality beans and transparency regarding provenance, to the creation of educational facilities dedicated to barista training and coffee crafts.

The movement received industry backing in 2004 with the creation of the Q Grading System by the US-based Coffee Quality Institute.

Only coffee rated at least 80 out of 100 can be deemed “speciality”, a moniker giving birth to a legion of “speciality coffee shops” serving certified high-quality beans.

By the time the UAE chapter of the Speciality Coffee Association launched in 2017, third-wave coffee was booming in the western world with Australian city Melbourne viewed as the hot spot.

While UAE speciality cafes such as Dubai pioneers Raw Coffee and Stomping Grounds were already making their mark at the time, the association’s chief executive, Khalid Al Mulla, recalled that the scene needed a concerted push to achieve its potential.

As one of his first acts, he corralled some of the UAE’s main speciality cafe owners and suppliers for a meeting to discuss the way forward.

“This was a closed-door session at a neutral space. While I can’t give names of exactly who was there, all the big players of that time were in the room.

“The fact it went on for three hours instead of the planned 45 minutes shows you that there were some passionate discussions,” Al Mulla says.

“Basically I made my position clear in that we as a UAE coffee scene need to be like Melbourne within the space of five years. That was our benchmark and we needed to work towards that.”

Al Mulla cites the lack of investors in the speciality coffee space as the biggest challenge at the time.

“Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of general coffee shops at the time. But to have a speciality store requires a different approach,” he says.

“It’s not the typical project where you just invest and then use the place for your business meetings and social life.

“You need to truly understand the business and do your homework about it. That means learning to first speak the coffee language, learn how to operate a speciality coffee shop and build the customer experience.”

The meeting adjourned in agreement that education should be an immediate focus for the burgeoning industry.

“We worked under the idea that once people know and taste speciality coffee, they can never go back to drinking commercial grade,” Al Mulla says.

“That’s what happened to me when I had my first cup nearly 20 years ago … you just can’t go back to that other stuff.”

The drive to educate the wider hospitality industry and the public on the virtues of speciality coffee took on various forms.

Through its local chapter, the Speciality Coffee Association brought its Coffee Skills programme to the UAE, a suite of training courses focusing on barista, brewing and tasting skills.

More industry get-togethers were organised, such as the Sabato Club — a former weekly gathering of coffee lovers and cafe owners in Dubai where beans and business were discussed — while the Dubai Coffee Museum, which Al Mulla owns, boosted its activities with guided tours.

In addition to the UAE hosting important regional trade fairs, including the Europe and Middle East Coffee Symposium in 2019 and the annual World of Coffee Dubai, the local coffee scene was, indeed, brewing up a storm.

According to a 2018 report by UK-based coffee research company Allegra, the UAE's branded coffee shop market grew 8.5 per cent that year to 1,100 outlets and was forecast to exceed 1,760 outlets by 2023.

While the data includes large coffee chains including Starbucks and Costa Coffee, the report highlights the role of UAE speciality coffee brands, such as Coffee Plant, Orbis Coffee and Tom & Serge, as a key part of that growth.

How to create the perfect brew

The coffee buzz in the UAE reached Irina Sharipova at the right time.

It was 2021 and the award-winning Russian barista trainer and co-owner of boutique St Petersburg cafe Mad Espresso Team was looking for a new challenge.

After shuttling back and forth between Dubai and Russia to provide training to fledgling UAE coffee shops, Sharipova made her move permanent later that year.

“I was pleasantly surprised by what was happening because I first arrived with no real idea,” she recalls.

“What immediately became clear to me is that the coffee shops were brilliantly designed but the knowledge of coffee needed improvement.

“This is actually the opposite of what is happening in St Petersburg where the shops mostly had poor design but the baristas had great understanding.”

Sharipova, who judged two Brewers Cups coffee competitions in Russia, now shares her knowledge at Dubai’s Roast Story.

As the head of quality and education at the roastery, she works with partnering UAE cafes in creating their signature brew and staff training.

“Both aspects go hand in hand. People underestimate the role of the barista and the value they provide customers,” Sharipova says.

“Great cafes have baristas that are well trained and give you great information about the coffee you are having.

“They tell you where it comes from, how they make it and how to consume it. It's the same principle as when you go to a Michelin restaurant, where the waiters explain the concept of the menu.

“It creates an experience that customers remember and builds the overall knowledge of the coffee scene here.”

When it comes to creating the perfect brew, the process is inquisitive.

It begins with Sharipova asking the client whether they want their branded coffee bitter, bright (higher acidity) or infused.

Next is the cupping stage, where the chosen flavour profile is assessed by taste and smell.

Once approved by the cafe owner, the blend is roasted and packaged in-house before delivery.

Guiding that process is the Speciality Coffee Association Coffee Taster’s Flavour Wheel, a giant poster hanging in the centre of Roast Story’s testing lab.

Originally published in 1995, it is the go-to training resource for barista trainers in its identification of 110 different flavours, aromas and textures that coffee can have – ranging from the benign floral notes of rose and jasmine to more alarming textures of “meaty brothy” and “animalic.”

Asked where instant coffee falls within that extensive list, Sharipova says: “Nowhere. It’s so bad it is literally off the charts.”

Finding the source

Some successful UAE speciality coffee brands took the road less travelled in sourcing their product.

For Nightjar Coffee, it is a badge of honour.

Launched in 2017 as a supplier before becoming a roastery-eatery at Al Quoz, the company sources its beans directly from farmers — as opposed to agents based in Europe or South-East Asia — in South America and Africa, from Colombia and Brazil to Burundi and Rwanda.

In addition to a bricks-and-mortar location, the company supplies its blends to a range of UAE venues including Dubai’s Museum of the Future.

With the speciality coffee scene fast maturing, New Zealand citizen and managing director Leon Surynt says brands need to stand out from the pack.

“You need to have your own identity,” he says.

“If you have that then you can start working on packaging and merchandise that brands become synonymous with.”

Having your own killer product also helps.

Nightjar is renowned for its cold brew, a chilled black coffee brewed with cold or room temperature water steeped for at least 12 hours, and is available on tap in Dubai hotels 25 Hours and SLS.

“A lot of people scratched their heads at first and thought it was just black coffee and water but since then many have tried to copy us or asked us to sell our recipe,” Surynt says.

“The fact is, it took us years to develop it with different flavours and brewing methods.

“Now we do it on scale and brew a few thousand litres a week at our own brewery at Dubai Investment Park.”

Emirati barista Zainab Al Mousawi also found her niche on the road.

During a near decade-long stint living and studying in Melbourne, Al Mousawi was so enamoured by the Australian coffee capital's cafe culture that she signed herself up to a barista training course.

That knowledge, in addition to visiting international trade fairs and coffee festivals, pushed her to open Dubai’s To The Moon & Back in 2019.

Located near Jumeirah Beach Road, it is cosy with a space theme.

The heart of the cafe is a striking two-metre mural of a space traveller floating among UAE symbols such as Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab.

“What I wanted to bring with me after spending 10 years in Melbourne is that community aspect of cafe culture.

“It is bringing a unique soul that reflects the cafe owner's persona that whoever visits the place feels instantly welcome and makes them want to return,” Al Mousawi says.

“I believe I created that with my place in the UAE and created a beautiful community that we can call our own.”