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Qazwan-venture!

The story, from Bilal’s perspective:

So I’m originally Kurdish, did you know that? I had no idea for 24 years since while I was growing up my parents had immigrated to America and Iraq was very nationalistic (attempted unification and homogenization of a diverse set of people). I forget how I figured it out, I remember when I did I was upset with my parents for not telling me. We had a heritage, a different culture, a whole new world and I had no idea about it. My last name isn’t Ghalib, that’s my grandfathers name. My last name is actually Baban, that’s my tribal name.

When my grandfather was orphaned he moved to Baghdad. His father was Kurdish from northern Iraq, in Sulimaniyyah. That’s how my father was to be raised in Baghdad. When he left to study in America, that’s how I was raised in Michigan.

Summer 2019 I had an opportunity to visit the city where my grandparents were from. I went to see if I could find anyone that knew my grandfather, and although I didn’t find anyone. I did find an amazingly delicious hot beverage called Qazwan, or Kezwan in the Kurdish parts of Iraq. Terebinth in the Bible and Merengic in Turkey and Pistacia Terebinthus on Wikipedia ;). This drink is made from the seeds of a wild pistachio tree which are dried, roasted, ground and then brewed very similarly to Turkish coffee. 

I had a day to spare between work, so me and my AirBnB host Muhammed decided to make a quick dash to the city the Baban (my tribal roots) helped found, Sulimaniyyah. I had no idea what to expect and luckily I met up with an amazing young woman on the bus, Sama, who took me directly to her favorite Qazwan shop. I had //no// idea what Qazwan was. I’d never tried anything like it. She called it “Kurdish Coffee”. Why she chose Qazwan over all the other amazing things this beautiful city has to offer I don’t know although immediately upon trying it I was converted, this drink was delicious. Sama and the young crew I met up with In the single day I had there I drank 4 cups and bought a kilogram directly from Picasso Cafe to take with me. Alan made me my last cup of the day and gave me the rest of his stock. He buys the beans whole and roasts them himself. 

Bilal and Muhammed in front of a delicious Qazwan Coffee shop in Sulaymaniyah

We’re beginning to develop relationships with some of the farms and producers, Qazwan is harvested in the spring and depending on winter sales we are considering a vertical manufacturing concept where we work directly with the farmers and roasters to bring you this delicious brew. We’re open to potential roasting support.

I used to know Qazwan only as a type of bead used in “thikr” beads, or remembrance beads, a type of rosary they would make and sell in front of mosques in Erbil. I’d been curious about the tree they come from the last few times I came to Erbil yet I never made any progress. Now the dots are connecting and it all leads back to this amazing wild pistachio tree.

Thikr (remembrance) beads made from Qazwan seeds.

If you’d like to try some Qazwan please check it out on Etsy, or on our shop here:

Terebinth, Merengic, Pistacia terebinthus, Qazwan brewed with thikr / remembrance beads
Qazwan is brewed and served like traditional Turkish/Arabic style brewed coffee.

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New Exploration and Sample: Queen of The Night

A beautiful queen of the night time lapse video.

While Night-blooming cereus isn’t as spectacular of a name as “The Queen of the Night”, by whichever name this flower goes it has an incredible story. The Queen blooms once a year and only at night. Many cultures commemorated this beautiful flower with many names:

  • Afrikaans: Koningin van die Nag
  • Chinese:Shé Bian Zhu (蛇鞭柱, Column of snake-like rope)
  • Czech: Královna noci
  • Danish: Nattens Dronning
  • Dutch: Koningin van de Nacht
  • English: Queen of the night, night-blooming cereus, large-flowering cactus, sweet-scented cactus, vanilla cactus, lunar flower, large blooming cereus, large flowered torch thistle, large-flowered night cactus
  • Estonian: Öökuninganna
  • Finnish: Yönkuningatar
  • French: reine de la nuit, princesse de la nuit, cierge à grande fleurs, vierge à grandes fleurs, cierge rampant à grandes fleurs, fleur d’amour
  • German: Königin der Nacht
  • Italian: cacto grandifloro, regina della notte
  • Japanese: Gekka Bijin (Beautiful woman under the moon)
  • Polish: Królowa Jednej Nocy
  • Portuguese: flor-de-baile, cardeiro trepador
  • Romanian: Cactus din Antilele Olandeze
  • Russkij: Carica noči
  • Serbian: Carica nočji
  • Sinhalese: Kadupul (කඩුපුල්)
  • Spanish: Reina de las Flores, Reina Gigante, Cardon, Gigante, Organillo, Reina de la noche.
  • Swedish: nattens drottning
  • Arabic:ملكة الليلMalikat Al lail
  • Vietnamese: Hoa quỳnh

This amazing flower blooms once a year and wilts by morning. It’s a rare flower and we’re excited to have a sample here at NCS HQ!

Are you interested in NCS carrying some of this flower’s oil? Let us know in the comments below. Any other essential oils and extracts we should put on our list?