Emily Pleasure Meneses: First, are you able to inform us how you bought began in espresso and what impressed you to begin Coffiyeh? The place are you at the moment situated, and how lengthy have you ever been working Coffiyeh?

Sajah Abdelghani: Espresso grew to become a part of my life actually early. It helped me survive college, lengthy work days, all the pieces. Once I lastly purchased my first little machine from Amazon, that’s after I actually fell in love with making espresso itself. I’d make drinks for my household and mates on a regular basis, and it slowly changed into my approach of exhibiting love.

Everybody round me stored telling me how good it was, and it made me dream a little bit greater. I stored interested by how I may share that very same feeling with extra folks, however nonetheless hold it private. That’s how the concept of being cell got here up. I needed to carry espresso to folks as a substitute of ready for them to come back to me, and I needed to be a part of folks’s celebrations and moments.

After I obtained married in February of 2025, Coffiyeh grew to become one thing my husband Sameh and I constructed collectively. It grew to become our shared ardour and a mirrored image of our tradition, our creativity, and truthfully simply our love for folks and neighborhood.

We formally began Coffiyeh in November of 2024. We’re based mostly in North Jersey and journey throughout the Tri-State space for occasions. Trying again now, as we attain one yr, it has been probably the most rewarding journey.

How has your Palestinian heritage influenced your work with Coffiyeh? 

My Palestinian identification reveals up in each a part of Coffiyeh. Even the identify comes from espresso and kuffiyeh, which is such an vital image of house and resilience for us.

Hospitality is all the pieces in our tradition. There may be a lot pleasure in welcoming folks and ensuring they go away feeling comfortable and cared for. That’s precisely the spirit behind Coffiyeh. I needed folks to really feel our tradition the second we hand them a cup, even when they’re experiencing it for the primary time.

You may see it within the identify, the patterns, the flavors, and even in the best way we work together with folks. It’s all grounded in heritage and in preserving our story alive.

What are the professionals and cons of being a cell espresso store? Any plans to finally have a everlasting location, or do you propose on staying cell?  

Being cell offers us the possibility to actually be a part of totally different communities. We get to point out up in new cities, at festivals, at particular occasions, and meet folks the place they’re. I like that no two days look the identical. In fact, it’s quite a lot of work. Organising takes time, breaking down takes time, and each location has its personal challenges. However these moments are what helped us develop probably the most. They pushed us to determine issues out rapidly and discover ways to adapt. At some point I’d like to open a bodily area for Coffiyeh, however for now, I take pleasure in being cell. It retains us near the individuals who helped construct this with us.

Let’s discuss drinks! Inform us about a few of your favourite menu objects and what impressed them. 

Our favourite drinks will at all times be our signature ones. They’re private to us.

The Turmusawi is impressed by my village Turmusayya. It’s a rose and cardamom latte that simply appears like house to me. The Debwani is called after Sameh’s village Deir Debwan. It’s a Dubai chocolate-inspired latte with pistachio and mocha sauce.

We created our drinks individually and someway, they ended up exhibiting each of our personalities and our shared roots. Collectively, they inform a chunk of our story.

You’ve mentioned that every beverage is supposed to inform a narrative and function what you name “a sensory and cultural expertise.” What’s your course of like, creating every drink and deciding what substances to work with?  

Every part begins with the beans. We decide a roast that has the best notes after which construct from there. From that time we experiment with flavors that complement it.

We pull lots from Palestinian and Center Japanese desserts and substances. Rose, pistachio, cardamom, tahini. All of the issues we grew up round. We play with these flavors till they really feel proper.

Most of our recipe testing occurs within the quiet hours, early mornings or late at night time, after we can actually focus. We tweak issues consistently as a result of we wish every drink to really feel intentional. Our purpose is that each drink tells a narrative and sparks some sort of emotion or reminiscence.

You’ve additionally described Coffiyeh as “a bridge between heritage and modern design.” Are you able to elaborate on that?  

Coffiyeh mixes the 2 worlds I reside in. My Palestinian heritage and the fashionable world round me. I at all times needed the model to feel and look like that mix.

You will notice conventional parts in our patterns and flavors, however all the pieces is offered in a clear and fashionable approach. To me that’s what tradition actually is. It evolves but it surely stays rooted. Coffiyeh displays that.

What do you hope for purchasers to remove after visiting your store? 

I hope folks go away feeling related. Not simply to the drink however to the story behind it. We put that means behind each element.

I need folks to really feel heat, curiosity, and a little bit piece of our tradition. In the event that they stroll away feeling impressed or seen, or like they skilled one thing new and delightful, then that’s all the pieces to me.

Any closing ideas you’d prefer to share?

Coffiyeh is greater than a espresso model for us. It’s a reflection of who we’re and the place we come from. It’s creativity, resilience, and storytelling by means of one thing as comforting as espresso.

As we attain our one yr anniversary, I really feel so grateful for each one who supported us, believed in us, and shared our journey. That is only the start, and I can not wait to continue to grow and sharing our story one cup at a time.

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