Impressed by a beloved regional taste and crafted for moments of connection, Starbucks’ Cardamom Latte brings a contemporary expression of custom to Ramadan — as informed by Espresso Ambassador and Barista Champion, Sumayyah
The scent hits earlier than the style does. Cardamom — earthy, heat, unmistakable — has a method of pulling you some other place completely. To a grandmother’s kitchen throughout Eid. To late Ramadan nights thick with laughter. To the straightforward act of being handed a cup of Arabic espresso and understanding, with out a single phrase spoken, that you just belong right here.
For Sumayyah, Starbucks Espresso Ambassador and Barista Champion, that fragrant spice carries the burden of two cities and a lifetime of reminiscence. This Ramadan, she helped deliver that feeling to a wider viewers by Starbucks’ new Cardamom Latte, a drink designed not merely to be consumed, however to be felt.
“Cardamom is a reminiscence in a spice,” Sumayyah says. “Its aroma takes me again to household Ramadan nights, to Eid celebrations, to moments crammed with laughter and togetherness.
“Her espresso journey started in Amman, the place the ritual meant one thing particular: time carved out for household, for tales exchanged throughout a desk, for presence. When she moved to Riyadh, the which means shifted. Espresso turned an act of generosity, supplied earlier than it was ever requested.
“Serving Saudi espresso infused with cardamom is a method of claiming, ‘Welcome into my house,'” she explains. “So after I considered bringing a espresso taste to life in a method that feels true to the area, cardamom felt like the right selection. It isn’t only a style — it is a feeling.”
Craft Constructed on Stability
Sumayyah speaks typically about concord in coffee-making, a philosophy she describes merely: espresso first, then spice and sweetness. The Cardamom Latte embodies that precept. Espresso gives the inspiration, daring and structured. Cardamom lifts it gently, including depth with out overwhelming. Steamed milk rounds the whole lot into one thing easy and approachable.
“Espresso ought to all the time lead the story,” she says. “Cardamom helps it gently, enhancing the depth and aroma with out stealing the highlight. Concord is about stability, and that is precisely what I wished it to really feel like: refined, intentional, and comforting.
“The result’s a drink that honors custom whereas talking a contemporary language, acquainted sufficient to evoke nostalgia, up to date sufficient to really feel recent.
A Drink for the Season’s Quieter Moments
Ramadan’s rhythm lends itself to reflection. The lengthy hours, the gathering at iftar, the stillness of night — these are the areas the place significant connection occurs. Cardamom has all the time occupied these areas, current within the espresso poured after meals, in desserts handed between arms, within the perfume that settles into the partitions of houses through the holy month.
Sumayyah imagines the latte discovering its place inside these rituals. “I think about this latte being savored after iftar, perhaps throughout a quiet second with household or associates, or whereas having fun with the calm of a Ramadan night,” she says. “It is comforting, nevertheless it nonetheless feels particular — a contemporary technique to honor custom whereas creating new recollections.
Past taste, she hopes the drink communicates one thing deeper to those that order it.
“I hope they really feel seen — and I hope they really feel a way of belonging,” she says. “When a taste displays your tradition and traditions, it turns into greater than a drink. It turns into connection.”
She pauses, then provides: “Cardamom is not only a spice. For me, it is a story, a connection — a chunk of house”.
The Starbucks Cardamom Latte shall be out there all through Ramadan at shops throughout Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Whether or not shared after iftar or loved in a uncommon second of solitude, it gives an invite: decelerate, keep in mind, join — one cup at a time.
