Must Have Drinks When in Egypt

Taste The Local Experience At an Egyptian Qahwa

Make yourself comfortable and feel at HOME by tasting a local experience! Ever heard of qahwa or kahwa in Egypt? Kahwa is a very popular place for Egyptians, especially for men, where they get to hang out, drink Egyptian tea or Turkish Coffee, smoke flavored Sheesha hookah pipe and play board games. Like in Paris and very oriental local countries, people gather on sidewalks cafés as a national local tradition of chilling out after working days or weekends. Coffee or Tea?!!

Originally it's the place were intellects used to meet and gather over enriched covnersations about art, music, poetry..etc. Now most probably it's about watching football games or just chilling out mostly Downtown Cairo or in El Hussein.

How Do You Drink Your Coffee?!

Drinking coffe or Ahwa is one of the top national traditions in the Middle East and within Egypt coffeehouses, despite its sour taste for newbies, Ahwa is pretty different from Nescafe or American coffee and it smells way stronger. Traditionally it's about the Oriental Face of Egypt that you find the coffee beans in Egyptian Old Bazaars which sell Egyptian spices, where people like to drink it thick, strong, and brewed.

You can drink it in several ways, in other words, choose which tastes better for you to own it as a tradition for the rest of your life.

Having it black is "Ahwa Sada"
Lightly sweetened is "Ahwa Ariha"
Moderately Sweet is "Ahwa Mazboot"
Very Sweet is "Ahwa Ziyada"

Mazboot sounds to be the taste that appeals to everyone. Something you should know is that Ahwa or Turkish coffee can never be served with cream or milk, and it is served in a very tiny Ahwa cup.

Although Turkish coffee has a reputation for being tart, its actual flavor depends on the mix of beans used in the grind; the larger the percentage of Arabica, the sweeter and more chocolate flavor. Ahwa comes in several versions: ahwa sada is black, ahwa ariha is lightly sweetened with sugar, ahwa mazboot is moderately sweetened, and ahwaziyada is very sweet. You must specify the amount of sugar at the time you order, for it's sweetened in the pot. Most people order mazboot, which cuts the tartness; ahwa is never served with cream. Most hotel and restaurant breakfasts include strong French coffee usually called Nescafe; you may have to specially order it with sugar (bil sukkar) or milk (bil laban).

How Do You Drink Your Egyptian Tea?!

It's time to leave those tea bags and drink REAL Egyptian tea on Egyptian sidewalks cafes. The custom of having an afternoon tea takes after the Bedouin traditions of boiled 'Shay - Chai', in which Egyptians usually call it "Mazboot" where tea is saturated with sugar and not too dark as well as not too light. Instead of mugs, this kind of tea would only be served in glasses. That's the ritual of drinking tea in Egypt. It's just the perfect way to have it.

Usually after big heavy Egyptian meals, having Mint Tea or Chai bil na'na' is the most refreshing thing ever for your stomach to be light in the evening. Mint might come in fresh leaves in your glass or a brewed mixture like regular tea added to your tea powder.

The Hibiscus local southern drink or Karkaday, a bright red clear drink, which is good for people with high blood pressure. It's a result of adding dried hibiscus flowers in water, then sugar, and can be served hot or cold. It's calming for the nervous system.

Adding up to such an amazing local oriental experience of living it up like an Egypt, where to eat is great choice for people who are backpacking on a low budget in Egypt; Finding a restaurant that serves traditional and national dishes has this amazing flavor of a local experience, Felfela Restaurant is a great place to go try new traditional Egyptian dishes or recipes within an average budget.