Forget the skyscrapers: Dubai’s tea culture is what actually wins you over

Dubai has a way of front-loading the spectacle.

You land expecting the Burj Khalifa to swallow the skyline whole, for the malls to swallow entire afternoons, and for the nightlife to swallow whatever’s left of your energy by the time you check out. And it delivers on all of it. But four days into a recent media trip hosted by the Dubai Tourism Authority, it wasn’t the view from At the Top or the sprawl of The Dubai Mall that I kept thinking about on my last day in Jumeirah. It was tea.

A welcome that started with ginger

The signs were there from the moment I landed. After a late check-in at Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and a quiet in-room dinner, the same gentleman who’d carried my bags up returned a little later with something I hadn’t ordered: a cup of ginger tea.

The heartwarming gesture was offered simply to help settle the fatigue of a long-haul flight. It was small, but it set the tone for the rest of the trip in a city known for grand gestures.

Old Dubai

A camel statue outside Local House Restaurant in Al Fahidi, Dubai. Picture: Megan Brett

Another one of the highlights of the trip was a guided walking tour of the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood – the pocket of the city often held up as a glimpse of “old Dubai,” all wind-tower architecture and narrow lanes, a world away from the glass towers a few kilometres east.

Our stop at the souk (market) turned into an impromptu tea tutorial, courtesy of Hammad Abbasi, a guest services and tour guide with Orient Tours, who talked us through shelves of regional blends.

There was traditional chai, a karak chai finished with a note of saffron, and lighter, floral options in hibiscus and jasmine. Abbasi also pointed out blends marketed for weight loss and “male vitality.” These mixes were treated as proprietary because the vendors weren’t willing to break down ingredient by ingredient, which felt very on-brand for a market that thrives a little on mystique.

Tea for lunch. Picture: Lebogang Mabange

I left with little karak chai and, more importantly, hibiscus – already my favourite, and hard to resist once I’d smelled it loose from the jar.

A few stores later, I also picked up a beaded shawl so intricately worked I’m already planning the outfit to wear it with. Had the Dirham-Rand exchange rate been more favourable, I’d have gone on a little more of a shopping spree.

A South African, at home in Dubai

If the souk sold me on Emirati tea culture, lunch at The Growhouse by One Life in Alserkal Avenue sold me on why so many people choose to build a life here in the first place.

A tour of The Grow House by One Life’s vertical farm at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai. Picture: Megan Brett

The restaurant was co-founded by Kelvin Kelly, a fellow South African who hosted our group and spoke at length about the business, the menu, and the idyllic life he and his family have built in the city. Our afternoon began with a tour of the restaurant’s on-site, indoor vertical farm located on the mezzanine.

It’s easy, amid the itinerary of five-star hotels and guided tours, to forget that Dubai is also just a place where ordinary people relocate, put down roots, and build something of their own.

Tapas, tea, and the Arabian Tea House

Food, more broadly, is where the trip’s real thesis crystallised. At the Arabian Tea House, we ordered a spread of dishes to share tapas-style – flatbreads and rice dishes doing most of the heavy lifting, alongside my drink of choice for the meal: a hibiscus iced tea that did an excellent job of cutting through Dubai’s midday heat. It’s a strange thing to find yourself craving a hot drink’s cousin in 40-degree weather, but iced or not, hibiscus kept finding its way back into my day.

A waiter shows a specially-made flat bread at the Arabian Tea House restaurant in Al Fahidi, Dubai. Picture: Lebogang Mabange

Back at the resort, the ritual continued in smaller, quieter ways. My suite came stocked with a rotating cast of Avantcha teas – a Majestic Earl Grey, an organic Spring Mao Feng, an organic English Breakfast, and a jasmine Mao Jian – and I worked my way through most of them across the stay, usually with the curtains open and the Gulf doing its thing outside the window.

The real luxury

None of this is to undersell the rest of the trip. The view from At the Top of the Burj Khalifa is worth the queue, The Dubai Mall is genuinely difficult to get through in under two hours, and a night at NAMMOS or drinks at Luna Dubai will happily remind you why this city has a reputation for nightlife. Dubai does spectacle better than almost anywhere.

A generous spread at the Arabian Tea House. Picture: Megan Brett

But spectacle, it turns out, isn’t what stays with you. What stays with you is the food and drink – sometimes unglamorous, always generous, and often served with such welcoming care -that will actually win you over.

– Kaunda Selisho was hosted by the Dubai Tourism Authority (DET). Accommodation, meals, and some referenced activities were provided as part of the hosted itinerary.