On the FiLLi menu
Karak Chai is the UAE's everyday cup — strong, spiced, milky tea poured into a small glass and drunk hot. ‘Karak’ means strong, and that's exactly what it is: the morning drink, the desk-visit drink, the on-the-way-home drink.
FiLLi has been pouring it since 1991, and over three decades it's gone from a drink one community drank to a cup the whole country reaches for. It's the base every other tea on our menu is built on.
Order on the app
Four things: robust black tea, evaporated milk, cardamom, and sugar. The tea has to be strong enough to hold up to the milk and the long simmer; the evaporated milk gives the cup its weight; the cardamom carries the aroma; the sugar balances it out.
Get the proportions right and you get a small cup that's strong, sweet, milky, and spiced — warm enough that you sip it slowly.
Karak isn't steeped, it's simmered. The pot stays on the heat until the colour deepens, the texture thickens, and it starts to smell less like tea and more like something you'd have for dessert. That's the point you pour.
We brew it the same way in every cafe — same blend, same simmer, same ratio — so the cup is consistent wherever you order it.
Once you know the base, the rest of the family makes sense. Zafran Karak adds Kashmiri saffron for a floral, golden cup. Adrak Chai leans on ginger and is good on a cold morning. Elaichi Chai goes heavy on cardamom. Same Karak roots, different finishes.
The one most people start with is the Zafran Karak — our signature.
Karak is on the menu at every FiLLi cafe across the UAE — and 100+ locations across 13 countries. Order one, drink it hot, and order a second; that's how it's done.
Order on the app, find your nearest cafe, or read more about what we pour.
What is Karak Chai made of?
Karak Chai is robust black tea simmered with evaporated milk, cardamom, and sugar until it's thick enough to coat the cup. Not steeped — simmered.
Where can I order it?
At any FiLLi cafe across the UAE. Use the store locator to find the nearest one, or browse the full menu before you go.