Arabic Coffee and Murra

The Arabic word for the drink is simply qahwa. It is made from Arabica beans and it reached Damascus by way of Yemen. Coffee was being drunk in Yemeni Sufi lodges in the 15th century to hold off sleep through night devotions, and from there it travelled to Mecca and Medina and on to Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad and Constantinople. A court in Mecca banned it in 1511; the ban was overturned in 1524 by order of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman.

How the bean is prepared

The traditional route needs two tools. Green beans are roasted in a mihmas, a flat long-handled pan, then cooled and crushed in a mihbaj, a mortar of wood, stone or brass. The rhythm of the pestle told the neighbours that coffee was on and guests were welcome; the sound was the invitation. Roasts run from light to dark. Cardamom goes in, sometimes cloves or saffron.

How murra is brewed

The coffee is boiled rather than filtered, which is why it comes out strong and concentrated. In the Levant it is made in a long-handled rakwa; among Bedouin and in the countryside a long-spouted bakraj takes over. The bitter Bedouin coffee, qahwa murra, is brewed for hours from coarsely ground beans and whole cardamom, sometimes with a fermented starter called khamira, and it is always served unsweetened.

How the serving works

The pouring follows an order: the host, or the eldest son, moves clockwise and fills according to age. The cup is small and has no handle, and it is never filled — a mouthful goes in each time. It is polite to accept three cups and to close the last one with daymen, “always”, a wish that the host may always have coffee to give. For the signal that stops the pouring, and for the sugar words used in cafés, see the coffeehouse culture page on this site.

Where to drink it, where to buy it

Murra belongs to the house and the guest room rather than the café; it is also the coffee of condolence visits and weddings. What arrives in a coffeehouse is usually Damascene coffee, unfiltered and made in a long-handled pot. Beans and cardamom are sold by spice merchants, and buying roasted beans unground keeps the aroma for longer.