Algeria -

In the Algerian city of Bousaada, which is nicknamed the city of “Al-Qahwajien”, meaning coffee lovers, people almost call each other “coffee morning” instead of “good morning.” Those leaving the dawn prayer nod to each other by hand, vowing “coffee?”.. Coffee moves their day here. .

At the old entrance to the ancient city of Bousaada, 250 km south of the capital Algiers, in the former “Marti” popular district, there is the oldest café in the area, which is nearly a century and a decade old.

A visitor to the city can hardly get past the "Boussaeed welcomes you" sign until the aroma of coffee grounds fills him.

The cafe is still in its old style with some renovations (Al Jazeera)

Liberal Café

The establishment of this café dates back to nearly a century and a decade, when the first grandfather of Mohamed Guidar turned it into a nightclub café in 1914, where it was affiliated with the French who were occupying Algeria at the time.

There can be no place among the connoisseurs of coffee unless you are a leader in the “car” / the field. This is a rule followed by Muhammad Guidar (aged 50), the owner of “Al-Naseem Café” for 30 years, who inherited it from his grandfather and father, and has succeeded in the shop 4 generations.

The architect of the Algerian revolution, Abban Ramadan, called the café "Al-Naseem", in reference to the city's beautiful air.

French colonialism considered this café a threat to its security, so he sent Guidar's father with warning messages and warnings urging him not to embrace gatherings of revolutionary and libertarian people, especially after the meetings of the Association of Muslim Scholars were held there.

The owner of Al-Naseem Café takes care of his coffee (Al-Jazeera)

Today's coffee shop

To the music of the pioneer of Bedouin song Khelifi Ahmed, Café Al-Naseem fans start their day, sitting at the old wooden tables or standing, customers waiting for their coffee, which Muhammad brings as he repeats musical clips in his Bedouin voice with the old cassette device that he puts in his shop.

A café with an area of ​​no more than 30 square meters, it was able to collect stories from history, and convey to the new generation the lives of their predecessors through the details of the shop: a wall made of old stone, a ceiling with juniper ropes, small windows overlooking the details of the city of culture and originality with happiness.

Café-goers sit outside and spend long hours without getting bored (Al-Jazeera)

The secret of Al Jizwa coffee

“Whoever drinks Al-Jizwa coffee returns to the city of Bousaada,” this is what many Café Al-Naseem patrons believe, who insist on asking the owner of the shop about the secret of the flavor of his coffee, and he responds with a smile to those who do not want to reveal it.

Omar, 28, jokes, "WikiLeaks' leak is more logical than leaking the recipe for the wedding cake to the Guidar family," while the young Ziani Murad considers the café's peculiarity lies in its antiquity, referring to Al Jazeera Net. "My grandfather was a customer here, after him my father, and today I am."

Jezwa coffee, or what is known in Tunisia as Dakkakah, and in other countries, is served as “gentlemen with a face,” but with the addition of a group of steppe (wild) herbs that grow in the semi-desert region.

The owner of the shop told Al Jazeera Net, "We add the jelly herb, wormwood and other ingredients to the coffee," and he also offers hot drinks with the wild herbs of the region, such as the gour drink.

“Al-Jour” is prepared with rosemary, thyme, juniper, climbing, kassah, wormwood and other herbs. The shop is also known as the local drink known as “hot,” which, according to Guidar, is made up of “galangal, ginger, cinnamon, mint and other herbs.”

Al-Naseem Café is one of the tourist attractions in Bousaada, and it is no less important than the Nasr El-Din Dini Museum or the mill in the city centre.