No-Milk Chai · Spiced Black Tea

Sulaimani Tea

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It's the one hot tea sold across Sharjah's souks with zero milk at all — just lime, cardamom, and sometimes saffron — the opposite formula from the thick, milky karak sold a few stalls over.

Sulaimani is a clear, spiced black tea brewed with cardamom and cloves and finished with a squeeze of fresh lime, served without any milk. Sharjah's older coffeehouses and souk tea stalls, including the one inside Souq Al Arsah, pour it alongside gahwa as a lighter, tangier alternative to karak.

Why it's made this way: The tea's Gulf-wide spread is tied to old trade and pilgrimage routes, and its milk-free format made it the drink of choice for the region's coffeehouse culture, poured to cut through a heavy meal rather than replace a coffee break.