[Centigonal]

One thing the author fails to take note of here is that Iranians have historically been extremely precious about their bougie little drinks. From tea and coffee houses to summer cordials like sekanjabin, basil seed drinks, and sour cherry sharbat to the dozens of varieties of doogh to all the little fresh juice places in Tehran, getting way too into beverages is an enduring Iranian cultural tradition (albeit fancy coffee comes with an unusually high price tag).

[morkalork]

Wow, so harsh! But also so true, not in Iran but in my city an Iranian café opened across the street from the fine arts museum and serves all sorts of drinks like hibiscus sharbat, khakshir. Very trendy, very bougie.

[Centigonal]

I mean it with love! I'm originally Iranian, and I may or may not be describing myself here. :)

Also, I know exactly the place you're talking about and their drinks are great!

[JumpCrisscross]

> sour cherry sharbat

This sounds delicious! Do you know a place outside Iran that nails it? (Together with the obsessive bougie tiny-drink cultural cues.)

[Centigonal]

Honestly, I'm too far removed from the culture in Iran to nail the second part, but I'm a big fan of the drinks at Cafe Aunja in Montreal, and Komaaj in San Francisco is wonderful too.

Sour cherry sharbat is very easy to do at home, too. You just need a bottle of sour cherry syrup (sadaf, golchin, and marco polo are all solid brands in the US). Pour a tablespoon or two into an empty glass, add water or seltzer on top, add ice, mix it all up with a spoon, and you're good to go.

[defrost]

Persian coffee shops in Australia go all in, there are several in Perth (Western Australia) and Melbourne (Victoria) run by Iranian born families .. and Melbourne coffee culture is arguably the bougiest on the planet, certainly rivalling L.A. and easily outshining the pretensions of Sydney ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCYK6-RTRsc )

[seanmcdirmid]

If it exists, it would be in LA somewhere (probably in little Persia).

[NoboruWataya]

I've always assumed this is due to them not drinking much alcohol as a culture. Alcohol occupies so much of our focus in the West - so much has been written about the nuances of whiskey, wine, beer, etc. It stands to reason that cultures that don't drink alcohol as much would get just as invested in the drinks they do consume.

[ayuhito]

I think it depends.

Where I used to live in the Middle East, the culture was very tea (more specifically karak) centric for sure. But it wasn’t a hobby you get so deep into that you become very specific for the average person.

You just drive to your regular place. There’s only one choice and that’s karak. You sip it in your car, chat with your buddies, and you drive off.

Definitely do miss the late nights there. No alcohol, just tea and still an extremely social society.

[senkora]

Seems like karak == chai karak == masala chai == chai tea:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai#Consumption_beyo...

[thayne]

As further evidence of that, in Utah, another place where many people don't drink alcohol, there are a plethora of "dirty soda" shops that sell non-alcoholic cocktails of soda with various additional syrups, juices, and flavors mixed in.