It’s the evening in Dubai. The temperature is scorching, the streets are packed, and the skyscrapers are shining. I’m at Jun’s Restaurant drinking a Pure Shores cocktail, a delightful blend of tequila mezcal, pomegranate and elderflower citrus, and grapefruit soda. I shut my eyes and savor the crisp, fresh, and energizing drink while reminding myself that I am enjoying this drink in a location where alcohol consumption is not permitted and is not permitted outside licensed venues.
In Islam, the principal religious system of civilization, the consumption of alcohol is a crime. According to Sharia Law, the religious legal system of the Islamic faith, even a direct association with alcohol isn’t permitted. It’s therefore interesting that a report by the World Health Organization records drinkers in the UAE drinking more than twice the average worldwide in alcohol annually and outdoing typically heavy-drinking Western nations like Ireland, the U.K., Ireland, the U.S., and Australia.
Based on Global Data, in 2021, there was a UAE alcohol market worth $7.4 billion, and it is expected to increase by at least 13 percent over the next five years. These figures comprise the expat population, which is 85 percent; however, it does not account for the 14.36 million visitors who go to Dubai every year.
If drinking alcohol is a crime and it is not legal, why are we seeing this happen? Why did the giant of cocktails, Diageo, organize the 2023 bartending championship in Dubai, and what made three Dubai hot spots get on the World’s 50 Greatest Bars list?
Some loopholes allow non-Muslims and expats within Dubai to drink in certain licensed establishments. It’s these licensed restaurants, as well as hotels and hotel bars, that contribute to the rapid growth in Dubai’s cocktail culture.
There are more than 13,000 restaurants within Dubai (11 of which have Michelin stars), And with the highest-quality food comes discerning patrons looking for premium drinks. Certain bars are located within hotels that are run by world-class brands like Nikki Beach and the SLS, as well as others that are only available in Dubai. Mixologists from all over the World find Dubai is the ideal location to perfect their skills or impress guests with something fresh and, most importantly, to be noticed.
Kelvin Cheung is a prestigious Canadian chef. He launched the restaurant he runs, Jun’s, in the city of Dubai in the year 2019. After launching two popular cocktail bars across India, Cheung was convinced the decision to move his restaurant to Dubai was the next best step.
“All the big players [in food and cocktails] are here now,” the bartender informs me while he introduces an innovative and vibrant beverage. “There is a dense multicultural diaspora in Dubai and things that get started here go international. If you want things to happen, they will happen here.”
Cheung’s distinctive cocktail menu is a reflection of his diverse background as the son of Asian immigrants who grew up in Toronto liv, lived in India, and traveled across the globe. The food and drink menus are personal and delicious. There’s even an alcoholic drink he calls PB&J. It’s which is a tribute to his time as a latchkey kid in the 90s.
He points to the downtown area of Dubai, where sparkling lights from palms line clean streets, and luxurious cars are parked at the curb. All here is glamour and glamour, uniqueness and exceptional. Cheung says the increase in unique and delicious drinks to the ease and availability of fresh and distinctive ingredients. “We can get anything imported,” Cheung explains. “Literally everything we need. And it’s not too price. Consumption rates are sufficient to get premium goods at an affordable cost.”
In the next week, I’m at Ginger Moon, the boho-inspired poolside bar and kitchen of the W Hotel Mina Seyahi, an only for adults that has been open since just a few months ago. I’m looking out over the massive yachts anchored in the beautiful artificial harbor as the breeze moves through the air as if it, as well, was made.
Ginger Moon understands the importance of providing guests with an exceptional experience when it comes to cocktails and mixes drinks as an art. The menu of cocktails is a poetic piece, lyrical and floral, with descriptions that begin by saying, “fly on the wild side,” and “get lost in the jungle.”
I’m sampling their “no waste’ dinner menu. It’s part of Dubai Food Week that focuses on the theme of this year’s sustainability. Director of Drinks Emanuel Ferraz has created a cocktail to accompany each course, made from leftovers from the kitchen. The kitchen is leading in the process; this initiative has given Ginger Moon’s mixologists the chance to be creative and mix new flavors, playing with sweet and sweet and savory.
“There is a big connection between the W brand and cocktail culture, it’s in our DNA,” Ferraz says. Ferraz while I sip his gin, tomato, and basil-infused concoction. “When guests enter the hotel, they are expecting to be greeted with something special. They are looking for something that is different from the usual hotel, something extravagant, and (for us) we can say that cocktails play a large component of that.”
Like everything else in Dubai — the brand new structures, the food at Michelin-starred restaurants — cocktails are made with precision. From the time I boarded my luxury Emirates flight and was greeted with classic cocktails drink, I was amazed by the city’s capacity to bring its five-star glamour to the glass. Drinks in Dubai aren’t just drinks; They are artful works of art that show the glitz and unstoppable prosperity that is the UAE.
