In a corner of Arkan Plaza in El Sheikh Zayed City, on the westside of Greater Cairo, sits a haven for lovers of good quality coffee. Nestled in between a number of other premises of locally-owned small businesses, Specialty Būn is a tiny place, but bursting with character. The coffee bar – topped with a glossy black machine, a two-foot-high grinder, and a subtle brownish-gold Marshall speaker – is the main eye-catcher, but not the only one. Tabletops inspired by crafts from Sinai, chairs inspired by ancient Egyptian relics, and a shelf covered with pictures of the various café-goers that had helped themselves to the vintage polaroid camera — every element of the decor seems deliberate. An hour spent with Omar Nazmi, the younger of the two brothers who founded and own Specialty Būn, reveals that not only the decor, but everything about and around the place is deliberate: the remote travels to source their specialty coffee, Cairo Coffee Collective, their own local roastery, the elaborate training of the baristas, all the way to the cups they serve the coffee in. Born in Egypt, but raised in Canada, the Nazmi…
Specialty Būn: How Two Brothers Are Changing Egypt’s Relationship with Coffee
March 21, 2022
