🥤 DRINK
Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee)
Lightly roasted Arabic coffee simmered with cardamom, cloves and saffron, poured from a dallah into tiny cups, unsweetened, with dates.
Bahraini · easy · serves 6
prep 5 min · cook 20 min
~45 cal · 0g protein · 12g carbs · 0g fat · 1g fiber · 10g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Arabic coffee, gahwa, is Bahrain's national beverage and an essential part of Bahraini hospitality, served to guests and poured at gatherings, festivals and celebrations.
Bahraini gahwa is made from lightly roasted beans, pale and far from the dark roasts of European coffee, simmered in water and spiced generously with , and in Bahrain with cloves and too; some cooks add to the pot before pouring. It is never sweetened. The sweetness comes from the , or halwa, served alongside.
It is poured from the dallah, the tall pot with its long spout, into small handleless cups called finjan, a little at a time, and refilled for as long as the guest keeps drinking.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 4 cups water
- 3 tbsp lightly roasted ground Arabic coffee
- 1 tsp ground
- 3 whole cloves
- 1/4 tsp threads
- 1 tsp (optional)
- 12 , to serve
Instructions
- 1Bring the water to a boil in a small pot, stir in the coffee and let it simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes.✎ Chef’s noteWatch it at first: it foams up as it comes back to the boil.
- 2Add the cardamom, cloves and saffron and simmer for 5 minutes more.
- 3Take the pot off the heat and let it stand for a couple of minutes so the grounds settle.
- 4Put the rosewater, if using, into a dallah or a warmed flask and pour the coffee in through a fine strainer, leaving the grounds behind.
- 5Pour a small amount into each finjan and serve at once, unsweetened, with the dates. Keep refilling until your guest has had enough.
Bahraini majlis tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Manama. Manama is sweet on machboos and on muhammar, rice cooked with dates or sugar and saffron and served against salted fish. Bahraini cooking reflects Gulf trade in cardamom, rosewater, dried lime, and the pearl-diving history of the islands.
🗺️
Bahrain. Muhammar is sweet rice, coloured and flavoured with dibs, date syrup, and saffron, and it is always served with fried fish, the sweetness set against the salt. Pearl divers ate it for energy on long dives, which is where the tradition is traced. It is not muhammara, the Syrian walnut and red pepper dip, and the two are confused often enough that reference books warn about it.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bahrain
MuhammarBahrain's sweet brown rice scented with date syrup, saffron, and cardamom, traditionally served with fried fish.
ChebabSaffron-and-cardamom pancakes tinted gold, served with cheese or date syrup, a Gulf breakfast.
GhooziSpiced rice crowned with tender roasted lamb, fried nuts, and raisins, a grand Bahraini and Gulf celebration platter.
Browse all Bahrain recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Bahrain meal
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee)?
Lightly roasted Arabic coffee simmered with cardamom, cloves and saffron, poured from a dallah into tiny cups, unsweetened, with dates.
Where does Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee) come from?
Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee) is a Bahraini dish from Manama, Bahrain.
Can Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee) take to make?
About 25 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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