Coffee seems to have overtaken oil as the most valuable liquid on our planet – such is the plethora of chains, independent coffee houses and the now burgeoning coffee machine manufacturing output.
In the UAE it is hard to walk into any supermarket without finding a shelf devoted to the art of delivering the black liquid up front. We are a coffee community and the marketeers know it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love coffee. I own my own coffee maker – though I’m not talking a mere glass container with a stainless-steel plunger. The machine I have is a one-stop shop of caffeine entertainment. But perhaps it is no match for the Dh17,000 Miele machine available to coffee connoisseurs in Dubai.
There’s no doubt the coffee it makes is good. I’m not sure whether it’s Dh17,000 good, but then again I don’t fish in the river that this machine swims in.
The coffee machine that I sampled is part of a trio of kitchen appliances that live together as part of one unit, so if you want this coffee maker you have to have your kitchen built around it and the matching microwave and mini-oven.
Miele does offer stand-alone coffee makers, but they are big, and I mean big. Not like the barista machines with cute spouts, grills and steam; more like a small safe sitting on your counter top. Miele machines generally take coffee beans and grind them, but customers found that if the machine was not used for a certain amount of time the beans spoiled. Hence Miele now offers a stand-alone coffee machine with Nespresso embossed on the front. It takes vacuum-packed coloured pods and can be yours for a mere Dh11,000.
q&a coffee talk
Stavros Politis, the managing director of Miele, reveals more about the high-end kitchen and domestic appliance brand.
How many people in the UAE buy Miele kitchens/coffee makers?
On average, we sell around 35 – 50 kitchens per month. By this I mean a kitchen completely outfitted with Miele appliances, with five to six appliances on average per kitchen. When discussing the coffee machine in specific, we sell about 10 coffee machines per month on average.
What is the USP of Miele coffee makers?
The taste, convenience and quality of the machine and the coffee it produces. Feedback that we constantly receive is how easy to use and to maintain our appliances are. One thing that we think is a great USP is the one single touch for two cups feature. Whether you have guests and are serving to multiple people or you and your spouse want your cappuccinos when you both wake up, it is these unique things only available through our intuitive additions to your kitchen that make the biggest difference.
Why the tie up with Nespresso? Isn’t that a conflict in the coffee world?
We find that in the region the look of a sleek kitchen is highly preferred, therefore built-in appliances really do get rid of clutter and fit in with the design schemes of our clientele. Nespresso only produce free standing coffee machines, but Miele specialise in built-in appliances. This relationship really gave both companies the opportunity to reach clientele that we didn’t already have as they are in completely different categories.
Top 5 UAE destinations for Miele kitchens
1. Burj Khalifa – 100 per cent of apartments feature fully outfitted Miele kitchens
2. Le Reve, Dubai Marina – 100 per cent of apartments feature Miele kitchens
3. Sanctuary Falls - 100 per cent of villas feature Miele kitchens
4. Palazzo Versace, Business Bay – 100 per cent of residences feature Miele kitchens
5. The Landmark – Abu Dhabi – 100 per cent Miele kitchens
Source: Miele
ascott@thenational.ae
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.