Search: “kuwait”

I used to post a gift guide on the blog back in the olden days (jeez wtf) so I decided to bring the list back this year again. If you still haven’t purchased a Christmas gift then the list below might help you with some ideas. Everything listed below is available in Kuwait, the links will take you to the place that sells the item. I might add more to the list as I think of stuff but for now these are my recommendations:

Over KD75
B&O BeoPlay A2 Speaker KD120
B&O BeoPlay H5 Earphones KD85
Micro 3D Printer KD169
Pure Fix Brewster Bicycle KD100
Typographic Light Box KD140

Under KD75
B&O BeoPlay H3 Earphones KD50
Crafted Gift Box KD60
Nintendo Classic Mini KD60

Under KD50
AeroPress Coffee Maker KD17
Alive Yoga (1 Month Membership) KD39
Apple TV (4th Gen) KD47
Breville Smart Kettle KD25
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker KD32.350
Fujifilm Instax Mini8 Instant Film Camera KD25
Nespresso Inissia Espresso Machine KD45

Under KD15
Black Classic Logbook KD8
Brother Personal Label Machine KD9.900
Casio – Retro Gold Watch KD13
Casio – Retro Steel Watch KD8
Eneloop Charger with 4xAA Batteries KD12.950
Klean Kanteen Stainless Bottle KD10
Mossery Dye Notebook KD3
Striped Shopping Bag KD9.750

Yesterday Grant from %ARABICA sent me some renderings of their new branch that will be opening up in Shuwaikh. It’s going to be much larger than their current location and have a bunch of cool things. The new location will be their central roastery and house a rare vintage Probat UG22 roaster from the 60s. It will be separated from the main seating area by a glass wall so people can watch the roasting process if they want while having their coffee.

The best part about the new roastery I think is that it will have an education center. Customers will be able to schedule training on any number of brewing methods, even how to make coffee using their Slayer machines which is what I’d be interested in (not that I’ll be getting a Slayer machine anytime soon). The main idea with this center is to teach customers how to make the best coffee at home. The new location is expected to soft launch next month with the official opening sometime in February.

Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Last night I noticed cops removing plates off of a new Bentley SUV that was parked illegally on the street near Little Ruby’s in Kuwait City. Two things impressed me, the first is that they don’t really care what kind of car you have, no matter who you are, if you park illegally you’re losing your plates. The second thing that impressed me was that the cops aren’t just removing plates during the day, they’re doing it at night as well. I love that they’re still very active with this.

Just a heads up, Rogue One is out in Kuwait already. I just got my tickets for tonight and there were still spots available, so if you want to watch it tonight you need to get your tickets now.

Mada has decided to stop providing internet directly to consumers and instead focus all their effort on the corporate sector. All their retail customers will be shifted to Zain who acquired them back in 2011.

When I reviewed Mada five years ago they were great, like the best thing ever because until they came along, I was on a slow 2Mbps connection. But for just KD20 a month, they were giving me a 10Mbps connect and it was a legit 10Mbps connection at that time. But, in my original review I highlighted a potential issue with Mada becoming popular and the connection slowing down. That prediction turned out accurate since Mada grew too quickly and their connection speed became slower and less reliable. Things got so bad that I ended up moving back to DSL until WiMD came a long.

Similar to Kuwait, speciality coffee places are starting to pick up in Beirut as well. On my latest trip I passed by two which I’d recommend checking out if you’re planning to visit Lebanon over the holidays. Check them out below:

The Backburner
This speciality coffee place opened up a couple of months ago in Saifi Village. It’s located on a quiet street next to the Trunk concept store and around the corner from Meat the Fish. It’s a small place with mostly indoor seating and a small bench right outside. They’re walking distance from downtown so they’re pretty convenient, here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @thebackburner

Kalei Coffee Co.
Kalei has also just been open for a couple of months now and is currently my new favorite spot in Beirut. They’re located in the popular Mar Mikhael area, walking distance from all the popular pubs, but they’re also tucked away in a quiet hidden alleyway, isolated from all the hustle and bustle. They’ve got an extremely cozy outdoor area and a spacious beautiful interior. Their desserts are pretty good with the carrot cake and flourless chocolate cake being the two I’d highly recommend. Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @kaleicoffee.co

There is a lot of conflicting information floating around about coffee. Some is passed down from generation to generation, some found on the internet and some would seem as truth where it really shouldn’t be.

#1: Want to keep your coffee fresh? Store it in a freezer

Don’t do it! The only way to have fresh coffee is to buy fresh coffee, grind it yourself as needed and to not buy more than a two weeks supply.

Unfortunately neither vacuum sealing nor freezing helps with this. If you can’t manage to do the above mentioned points, the best way to store your coffee is in a cool, dark place with around 50% humidity. Freezer air is very dry and the moist coffee will tend to equalize with its surroundings, so freezing would dry the coffee out causing it to be stale.

#2: Strong coffee is a dark roast

To answer this we need to define what “strong” coffee is. The most common answer I got when I asked people what constituted as a strong coffee is “a dark roast” and the reason being “because it is bitter”. Other answers included “coffee with a lot of caffeine” and “espresso”.

Now none of these answers are exactly incorrect because there isn’t a standard definition of what it is that makes a cup of coffee strong. So I’ve taken it upon myself, without consulting any authorities to standardize the definition: A strong cup of coffee has a higher percentage of coffee (oils) in solution than other cups, i.e a high coffee:water ratio.

From this definition we can tell that a dark roast coffee could be stronger because the darker the roast is, the higher the solubility of the coffee – however the darker you roast, the lower the caffeine content. Moreover, espresso can also be considered correct as it will also have a higher coffee:water ratio than other brewing methods.

The best way to ask your barista for a strong cup would be to ask for a “high yield” coffee. The barista would then dial in the necessary settings in the equipment to give you that high coffee:water ratio that results in more flavor.

#3: Can I get a tall flat white?

No, no you can’t! Why? Because there is no such thing. The same thing goes for: Cappuccino, Cortado, Macchiato, Gibraltar and Café Bon Bon.

These coffees have special names for a reason, their names are in essence their ratio or recipe. Each of the aforementioned has a very specific ratio of espresso and milk. Change that and you have a different drink entirely. Just yesterday I saw a “Macchiato” the size of a latte in Avenues mall, when an actual Macchiato is a double espresso with just a tablespoon of milk foam! I’d be happy to mention the ratio’s of the various drinks in the comments below if someone is interested.

#4 Coffee dehydrates you

Caffeine is a diuretic, which causes you to urinate more frequently. However, your drink (unless it is an espresso) makes a significant contribution to your daily water intake. Only excessive coffee intake may cause dehydrating effects.

So why do some stores serve water with your coffee? To help you taste the coffee better. It is simply a way of cleansing your palate between sips.

#5: Espressos contain more caffeine than brewed coffee

If you are talking about concentration of caffeine then yes, its a slightly more concentrated dose. However, by drinking a small cup of brewed coffee you will be ingesting significantly more caffeine. An espresso contains roughly 40mg of caffeine, whereas a short cup of drip or filter coffee will have around 100mg. Also, don’t be fooled – darker roasted coffee (as mentioned earlier) contains less caffeine than lighter roasts.

#6: Coffee is good/bad for your health

Honestly, I have done extensive reading on this subject and I have read articles stating that coffee prevents cancer only to read one that suggests it can cause it. Similarly, I have read that it aids in weight loss but also read that it has no effect on it. Coffee itself contains very few calories, negligible amounts of vitamins and minerals etc. so I think it is safe to say that moderate to high consumption of coffee will not have any significant effects (positive or negative) on your health.

Keep sipping!

Post by Grant Mouton
Self–proclaimed coffee guru, coffee education addict, SCAA/SCAE accredited.
Brand manager at % Arabica.

The architectural model above shows how the Avenues will end up looking like once the final phase 4 is completed. The two tall buildings are the Conrad Hotel and Hilton Garden Inn. You can view a larger version of the image above [Here]

Thanks lovelykuwait!

A redditor has mapped out some of the most important bus routes onto Google Maps. If you use the bus (or ever thought about going on what) you can check the routes out [Here]

KPTC already have a similar thing where they’ve mapped out the routes onto Google Maps as well, the only difference is with the KPTC version you need to go through the routes one by one to see the actual route while with the redditors version all the routes are displayed on the map at the same time and you can just select the one that interests you. Here is a link to the KPTC version. [Link]

CityBus also have their bus routes online but its in Flash (why?) and it’s made to look like a subway map and is just not as easy to understand. You can view that map [Here]

Thanks bluzomby!

I’ve been getting a lot of people asking me if owning an old car is a pain in the ass. Like how difficult is it to maintain? Is it reliable? How practical it is as a daily driver? I got my Datsun back in April and I’ve been driving it every day since, so I think I’m now qualified enough to answer some of those questions.

Classic Cars Expectations
First thing you need to do is manage your expectations with the car. You’re not buying a brand new car off the dealership lot so you need know that the car won’t be perfect. My car for example has a bunch of quirks if I can put it nicely, here are some of them:

– I need a new gearbox, right now my gears jump to neutral randomly when in 1st, 3rd or 5th gear. New gearbox with installation will cost me just KD150, but I’m not in the mood to get it done because end of the day my gearbox is working fine, it’s just a bit annoying. I’ve got a temp fix right now which is, whenever I am in one of those gears, I just keep my hand on the gear knob so it doesn’t jump out of place and it works. Simple.

– When I close my drivers door it automatically locks. So I ALWAYS make sure the keys are with me before exiting the car.

– When I fill up gas I spend the rest of the day inhaling gas fumes in the car.

– Speaking of fumes, if I have one window open, the cars internal air pressure changes and starts pulling in exhaust fumes from the rear. So I need to either have both windows rolled up or both windows down. So if a passenger rolls down their window I roll down mine, if they roll there’s up, I roll mine up. No biggie.

– When I go through a drive-thru car wash I get soaked a little while sitting inside the car. It leaks water from on top of the door and it’s not because of the rubber seals which I’ve already replaced. The car is just so old that the body has warped a bit and so the doors and rear hatch don’t properly seal.

– It’s really loud, old cars had no sound insulation and I can’t really converse with anyone inside the car. The sound of the road, wind, engine and exhaust just doesn’t make it possible.

These are just some of the “quirks” and I’ve got a bunch more. So when you get an old car expect there to be weird issues. My car is 43 years old and I’ve accepted all the issues that came with it and they don’t bother me at all.

Governments all over the world are still trying to figure out how to control the use of drones due to their rising popularity, and Kuwait is no different. Early this year I shared a proposal by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on limiting the use of drones in Kuwait. One of their proposals was to ban the use of drones over congested areas or private properties and it seems this is now officially a law. According to a new article on the MOI website, they state that it’s now against the law to fly drones over homes or other private properties which don’t belong to you. Violating this law will result in either a prison sentence of up to 3 years, a KD3,000 fine, or both.

Personally, I have mixed feelings against this law. I can certainly understand where they’re coming from, it would be fairly easy to spy on people using drones and I’m sure a lot of “voyuerists” are already doing this. But, I don’t really like the idea of banning everyone from flying drones because some people are misusing it. That would be like banning all telescopes because some people use it to spy on their neighbors. I would prefer they punish abusers severely and let everybody else continue to fly drones wherever they want. But since this is Kuwait and law enforcement isn’t that great, then it makes sense to just ban everyone since that would be easier option of the two to enforce.

The article on the MOI website is only available in Arabic and I haven’t been able to find an English version of it yet. The english articles on the MOI website haven’t been updated since May for some reason, so if you can’t read Arabic you’re going to have use Google Translate like I did. Here is the [Link]

Thanks Adly!

In my previous articles (“My coffee is cold” and “This coffee is too expensive”), I touched base on how temperature affects your perception of flavour as well as pointing out that coffee is in fact under–priced. Today I’ll be taking all of you avid coffee drinkers a little bit deeper by answering a simple question: “What constitutes a good cup of coffee?”

Coffee seems to be a simple thing – but I can assure you that there is a whole lot happening behind the scenes that many are unaware of. To try and keep you, the readers, enthralled; I will divide this segment into the following:

• What makes a one coffee bean better than the rest
• What sets baristas apart
• How can I tell if my coffee was good?

What makes one coffee bean better than the rest:
Plants are funny things, temperamental at the best times. Now, I am no botanist, but I have had my fair share of veggie patches as well as a once glorious Bonsai collection in the past.

Let us begin with the anatomy of the coffee tree. The coffee “bean” as we all call it is in fact a seed. This seed is no different to other plants’ seeds in that it is responsible for the plants reproduction. Plants do a wonderful thing when they are stressed due to lack of rainfall or thin air as a result of high altitudes or other stressful situations. Plants, when under certain stressors put extra energy into producing more, stronger seeds. The reason for this is that is the mother plant wants their offspring to be stronger and healthier with a better chance of survival, perhaps for them to even flourish. This touching act that is written into the DNA of the plant ends up benefitting the ever consuming human -it results in a mother plant putting extra energy into its fruits and seeds which results in a better coffee experience for us. This phenomenon is not exclusive to coffee – it has long been observed in grapes. Another thing that helps is biodiversity. As with all plants, the higher the biodiversity, the more effective pollination occurs which also results in better fruits.

So we now know that weather conditions can affect the coffee and that some of the best coffee is grown at high altitudes. There is also a trend in bean flavours that shows the higher the coffee is grown, the fruitier and more floral the taste will be. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule. Many other factors can contribute to the flavour of coffee, i.e. What sub-varietal is the plant? What was the processing method?

I want to highlight the importance of processing. This is the method whereby the seeds are removed from the cherry and dried. It is crucial to the quality of the bean that utmost care is taken at this step to avoid rot, leaching of flavours and the removal of defects.

So you are looking for a tree grown on the correct slope (sunlight) in a biodiverse area that is high enough above sea level and also processed correctly. Not asking for much, right? If a bean doesn’t tick all the boxes, it won’t taste good.

What sets baristas apart?
A good barista has attention to detail that is borderline OCD. The reason for this is that when you are working with the temperatures and pressures they do, it is easy to ruin a cup of coffee by extracting for 1 second too long or too short. Making sure the coffee grind size is not too coarse or too fine, they need to be consistent with tamping (packing the coffee into the portafilter) and rinsing the machine’s groupheads etc..

There is so much going on that the barista needs to pay careful attention using all of their senses during each step of making the coffee, or you’ll be left quite literally with a bitter taste in your mouth.

They are on the frontline of the early morning assault on tiredness. Getting up before you do to ready the shop – calibrating machines before you’ve even had your first stretch! These champions of coffee use all their senses for each cup to ensure a great end product for you. I am forever grateful for them.

How can I tell if my coffee is good?
This is probably the simplest topic I will discuss. Your coffee is good if you enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s just a matter of taste – and tastes differ. Sometimes you want more, you what to strike a conversation or bask in the ambience of the store. It all boils down to your enjoyment. If you enjoyed it, then it was good!

Keep sipping!

Post by Grant Mouton
Self–proclaimed coffee guru, coffee education addict, SCAA/SCAE accredited.
Brand manager at % Arabica.

Back before the iPod came out and Apple became popular, there was an Apple store located across the street from Salhiya. As a teenager I used to walk by the store and dream about owning a Power Mac which I thought back then was one of the hottest looking computers on the market. Fast forward around a decade later and that Apple store was abandoned. I ended up taking some photos of it in that abandoned state and published them online as part of my Miskan project. The photos got picked up by the likes of Engadget and Gizmodo since the store was like a time capsule. After my 15 seconds of fame that was it.. until this week.

Somehow the photos have started making their rounds around the internet again, they first got posted on reddit and then the popular YouTuber EverythingApplePro who has like 3 million subscribers shared the photos in his latest video. Gotta love the internet. My pictures make it in his video above at the 2:10 mark but you can check out all the photos I had taken back then [Here]

I eventually ended up getting the vinyl ‘Think Different’ campaign banners that are in the photos. I still have them tucked away in my closet and from what I’ve been able to gather, they’re now worth a nice penny or two.

Thanks Salah!

With all the media hype over the elections on the streets of Kuwait and all the rage over president-elect Trump, I thought I’d take a crack at being a devious politician, too. With each one of the candidates making promising ideas and creating alliances for votes, I thought about sharing with you what I would promise if I were to run for office (in terms of music). I’ve been working in the Music industry since 2002, and feel like I’m at the very least, credible enough to have an opinion. So, if I were to run for the head of Culture & Arts to get my shot at the oval office, my campaign slogan would be: “We are going to bring back music and we are going to build a wall around it”. Even though it sounds outlandish and vague, unlike my other candidates, I am going to show you my plan.

First thing I would do in Office is to locate or create, a credible Art Fund that was financially generous when it came to experimenting with new ideas, like having musicians play at airports on arrival? Sure, why not. This Art Fund, think of it like a Bank, would see itself as the stimulus towards creating a music culture. Art Funds are not a new concept, there are plenty all over the world, but unlike them I would outsource media and events creation to third party companies. Because this is where Art Funds go bad. “But, why Amin?” you might ask, “Why not just keep it all in-house?” Because Art Funds often underestimate the amount of work and field experience that goes into properly executing Public Relations and Event Production. For example, the head secretary should not work as the ticket seller and host on the mic, too. Not outsourcing is usually what determines where an event falls on the fine line between what I like to call “small firework shows” (successful, fun events that bring in crowds, but don’t really go anywhere past that point) and symbolic strategic shows that are impactful or open to stimulate the economic growth of an industry. So, yes, outsource PR and Event Production to third party companies, and throw in a Talent Agency to collaborate with the PR and Event Production companies, and let the Art Fund focus on curating and investing in the Arts.

Since its starting off as a very slow news week, I figured I’d post a list of my favorite podcasts to keep things moving. So here are my favorite podcasts in alphabetical order:

Car Talk
This is a show where two car mechanics get calls from people asking for car advice. A caller for example would call in and tell them my car is making a screeching sound when going down hill what could it be? And the two car mechanics try to figure out what the problem might be and give them advice on it. It’s a fun show if you’re into cars and I enjoy always trying to figure out the car issue myself and I have to say, I’m generally pretty good at it.

Chequered Flag Formula 1
There are only two sports I enjoy watching, Formula 1 and UFC and this single podcast fulfills all my F1 needs. It’s by the BBC and every race tends to have two podcasts per race, a preview of the race and then a review of it. The episodes are short and the hosts are fantastic but sadly, yesterday was the last F1 race of the season (and what an intense race it was) so this podcast is going to be dormant until the next season starts again.

Kill Tony (pictured on top)
By far my favorite podcast of the bunch. Kill Tony is a comedy show run by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. In the show, Tony randomly selects a name of an audience member from a hat (the audience members are young striving comedians) and they have to come up and do a stand up set for 60 seconds in front of Tony and his guests. Although many of the stand ups aren’t that funny, the show is ridiculously funny since Tony and his guests (who are popular comedians) roast the stand ups. Super funny stuff, like I laugh out loud while driving funny.

The Joe Rogan Experience
JRE I think was the first podcast I ever started listening to. Joe Rogan is a standup comedian (his new special is great), an actor (remember NewsRadio?), ex host of the Fear Factor, a UFC commentator and an ex Taekwondo champion. Like his life, his show covers various topics and so each episode he invites an interesting guest where they talk about different things. If you’re a UFC fan, Joe also hosts “Fight Companions” where he invites some friends over and they all sit and watch the UFC fights together while podcasting live.

The MMA Beat
The MMA Beat is my favorite MMA show. On the show they discuss all the current MMA related news and give their opinions on them. The show is usually composted of four journalists including my two favorites, Ariel Helwani and Luke Thomas.

The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani
This is probably the most popular MMA show, it comes out once a week and usually features interviews with fighters who are currently in the news or have a fight coming up or just had one.

I also follow a bunch of other podcasts but generally only listen to them if I have nothing else. They are:
Double Jump
It’s Time with Bruce Buffer
Luke Thomas Podcasts
The Church of What’s Happening Now with Joey Diaz
The Fighter & The Kid
UFC Unfiltered with Jim Norton and Matt Serra
You’re Welcome! with Chael Sonnen

What podcasts do you listen to?

I use the Overcast app to listen to my podcasts. Two things I like about it, the first is that it works with my CarPlay head unit, the second is that I can set how many seconds I want the seek back and seek forward buttons to be. So I have it set to go back 15 seconds when I click the rewind button and skip forward 60 seconds when I click the forward button.