#DubaiLovesCoffee by Brand Dubai in collaboration with The Huntr

For the past three weeks, Brand Dubai and The Huntr.com have been working with Dubai’s finest homegrown cafés and speciality coffee concepts to launch #DubaiLovesCoffee across the city.
 
An incredible 23 local businesses took part, devising a bespoke signature menu for their customers in a bid to win a place at The Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2019.
 
The winning six will all be taking over at The Brand Dubai Hub – a brand new feature space at this year’s ACF – to serve some amazing coffee.

The local coffee community voted in their thousands, naming Dubai’s hottest coffee concepts.

AND THE WINNERS ARE…
 
Best Milk-Based Coffee
Home Bakery
Alchemy
 
Best Special Drink
Farmer’s Coffee
The Espresso Lab
 
Best Overall Favourite Speciality Coffee Concept
Nightjar
PDL Coffee Co & Barbershop

 

ALCHEMY
Instagram: @alchemydubai
Winner of: Best milk-based coffee

Homegrown Emirati-owned speciality coffee concept Alchemy is part of AJ Capital & Investments. Housed within a modern converted villa with floor-to-ceiling windows in Jumeirah, it first opened its doors in April 2018 with the mission to provide artisanal high-quality coffee in a minimalistic, relaxing setting.

Open weekdays 8am until 10pm and weekends 8am until 11pm, Alchemy sources its coffee from different single origin farms, using multiple international roasters in Europe and the local Cypher Roastery in Dubai. The desserts and pastries change on a daily basis. Oat milk is available for hot and cold coffees for those who prefer it and there’s a peaceful outdoor seating area with a view to a swimming pool.


 

FARMERS COFFEE
Instagram: @farmers.coffee
Winner of: Best special drink

Farmers Coffee is the brainchild of Emirati founders Faisal Ibrahim Ahil and Faisal Salem Al Marri. Opened in May 2018 in the Al Khawaneej neighbourhood, this homegrown gem strives to provide the best speciality coffees without causing harm to the environment. Great care has been taken to ensure that natural ingredients and organic farming methods are used where possible.

Organic milk is available for a small extra charge and there are also plenty of organic dairy-free milk options alongside healthy homemade cookies and options to satisfy your sweet tooth. The baristas are currently using Saudi roasters Camel Step coffee beans who operate a fair direct-trade method, which guarantees the welfare of the farmers and high-quality beans.


 

HOME BAKERY
Instagram: @home_bakery
Winner of: Best milk-based coffee

Founded by two Emirati siblings – Hind Al Mulla and Abdulla Al Mulla – in June 2014, Home Bakery is open daily from 7am until midnight. Famed for its cheat-day-worthy treats including its signature Chewy Melt cookies, Home Bakery uses speciality coffee beans sourced from Brazil, Ethiopia and Columbia.

Designed to create a ‘home from home’ feeling, this Al Safa gem serves a variety of sweet and savoury breakfast dishes from 7am until 2pm alongside its speciality coffee offering – which includes hot and cold concoctions. Soy and almond milk options are also available.


 

NIGHTJAR
Instagram: @nightjar.coffee
Winner of: Best overall speciality coffee concept

Nightjar Coffee Roasters is the brainchild of New Zealand expat Leon Surynt and British- born Matt Wade. Tucked away inside the cultural hub of Alserkal Avenue this homegrown gem first opened its doors in September 2018. As a self-proclaimed group of “eclectic and passionate speciality coffee professionals from around the world”, Nightjar’s mission is simple – to “make it good”. From its relationships with the farmers at the origin to its staff, work-life, and all the way to the final cup of brew being par excellence.

Antony Papandreou is head of coffee and the team of baristas will skilfully craft a range of speciality coffee beverages including its signature on-tap Nitro Cold Brews. A distribution partner for Raw Material in New Zealand the team source green coffee direct from selected single origin farms with micro and nano-lots with a focus on quality, provenance, sustainability, freshness and fair relationships with the growers. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, visitors can make use of the large communal working tables complete with charging stations and WiFi “as strong as the long black”.


 

PDL Coffee Co & Barbershop
Instagram: @pdl_dubai
Winner of: Best overall speciality coffee concept
A Dubai-born concept by three Emirati nationals – Essa Al Marzoogi, Majid Bin Suloom, and Ahmed Iqbal Khoory – PDL Coffee Co & Barbershop first opened its doors in August 2018. The homegrown, cycle-themed speciality coffee shop and grooming gem offers a variety of hot and cold coffees alongside cakes, cookies, other sweet treats) all sourced from local businesses (and savoury sandwiches.

The team sources its coffee from the Dubai-based Seven Fortunes roastery and offers a wide range of dairy-free milk options including oat, almond and coconut. The first concept to offer speciality coffee with luxurious beauty treatments for men, PDL also acts as an active cycling base and operates weekly rides for the community every week.


 

THE ESPRESSO LAB
Instagram: @theespressolab
Winner of: Best special drink

Founded by Emirati entrepreneur Ibrahim Hamza Al Mallouhi in May 2015, The Espresso Lab prides itself on being a Dubai-born artisan company to the core – crafting everything by hand, from the baked goods on offer at the cafe to the way the coffee beans are bagged.

Inspired by his childhood watching his grandmother buy green coffee beans, roast them and then brew her own coffee, Ibrahim now does the same – albeit it on a slightly larger scale. The Espresso Lab sources its own beans and roasts them in-house and the baristas serve up a wide range of hot and cold speciality drinks. Plus, seasonal, limited- edition drinks occasionally appear on the menu in a bid to shake things up and foster a community of curious coffee lovers.