Qahwah House is Premium. Organic. Coffee. Imported from Yemen. First coffee shop of its kind. We only serve the best Yemeni coffee.
www.qahwahhouse.com
A new Yemeni coffee shop has opened downtown at The Harlow. Yemeni coffee shops are different than American shops in that they are much busier at night, the manager said they are open until 11pm and on weekends they are open until 1am.
Their coffee is VERY spice forward. There is not much caffeine, if you want cardamom and cinnamon, this is your place. Their pasties are also very good, as good as Fox in the Snow. My neighbor walked by last night at 930pm and said there were 4 dozen people inside.
The Guardian in the UK did a story about this company and the rise of Yemeni cafes.
Yemeni cafes are intergenerational gathering places where - controversially - some young people go to check each other out
www.theguardian.com
"However, the Yemeni coffeehouse – American-style – is something new altogether. It echoes the Taiwanese bubble-tea houses that proliferated first in California in the 1990s and then spread across the nation. Other Asian ethnic subgroups could go there and feel they were among their own. (Indeed, my college romance with my future wife frequently included teetotaling group hangouts at Bubble Island in Ann Arbor, Michigan.)
The Yemeni business model hinges upon a few key innovations: open absurdly late for a cafe (Ramadan hours can stretch to 2am). No alcohol. Yemeni coffee beans. Spiced drinks named after Yemeni cities: Jubani, Harazi and Sanani coffees, Adeni chai. Drinks brewed in a single vessel with Indian Ocean trade spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Communal kettles that facilitate conversation. And lots and lots of Muslims, both young and old."