Lattafa Khamrah Qahwa Review: Cardamom First, Praline Close Behind, Coffee Last
The short answer: Lattafa Khamrah Qahwa is a warm, spiced gourmand that opens on cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, settles into praline and candied fruit, and dries down to vanilla, coffee and tonka. Wearers report far longer wear than Lattafa itself promises, with strong projection for the first few hours. If you like sweet, spiced winter scents, it is one of the best-value bottles in the Lattafa range. If you want a bitter espresso fragrance, it is not that.
What it is: the coffee-house member of the Khamrah line, launched by Lattafa in 2023 and a Fragrantica Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 winner.
Smells like: spiced Arabic coffee, nutty praline and vanilla. Cardamom leads, praline sits right behind it, and the coffee arrives late.
Performance: Lattafa claims 5+ hours; wearers most often report nine to twelve hours or more on skin, and days on clothing.
Best for: autumn and winter, evenings, people who already like sweet gourmands.
Skip if: sweet scents give you headaches, or you want coffee as the headline.
Price: £20.99 for 100ml, in stock. See Khamrah Qahwa →
Khamrah Qahwa at a Glance
Qahwa (قهوة) is Arabic for coffee, specifically the cardamom-spiced preparation served across the Gulf, and that is exactly where this fragrance starts. It is one of the most reviewed bottles Lattafa makes: Fragrantica lists it at 4.33/5 from more than 16,300 votes (as of October 2026), and its editorial team named it a winner of the Fragrantica Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 in the Best Unisex Fragrance category. The original Khamrah won Best Middle Eastern Fragrance two years earlier, so the line has form.
This review covers what Qahwa smells like from first spray to dry-down, how long it lasts (and why Lattafa’s own figure is so much lower than wearers’), how it differs from the original Khamrah, and whether it is worth £20.99. We have not added our own wear-test figures. The scent descriptions come from the published notes and from what Fragrantica’s editorial reviewer and community report, and we say so where it matters.
Wondering whether Qahwa is a dupe of a designer fragrance? That question is answered on the Khamrah Qahwa product page.
What Does Khamrah Qahwa Smell Like?
The Fragrantica listing for Khamrah Qahwa gives eleven notes across three tiers, and the official Lattafa listing names the same eleven, calling the coffee “Coffee Arabica”. The main accords Fragrantica shows are warm spicy, sweet, vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, amber and powdery, which is a fair summary of the whole wear.
How much coffee is there, really?
Less than the name suggests, and this is the point reviewers disagree on most. Fragrantica’s award review is clear that Qahwa is a gourmand first and a coffee fragrance second: cardamom and praline do most of the talking, and the coffee builds slowly in the base. On the community page, some wearers describe the coffee as smooth and in the background; others say it was subdued in a new bottle and became much more noticeable after a few months. It is one reason reviewers keep recommending a short rest before judging a new bottle. How maceration changes a new bottle →
How sweet is it?
Sweet. The spice and coffee give it more edge than a pure dessert scent, but it is still a sugary gourmand built on praline and vanilla, and Fragrantica files it under Oriental Vanilla rather than the Oriental Spicy family the original Khamrah sits in. “Christmas in a bottle” is a recurring phrase among Fragrantica reviewers, and so is a warning not to blind buy it if sweet fragrances have never suited you. A minority find the sweetness synthetic or cloying. If the sweetness of the original Khamrah put you off, Qahwa will not fully fix that.
Khamrah Qahwa Longevity and Projection
There are two sets of numbers out there, and they are a long way apart.
The practical takeaway: two to three sprays is plenty for an evening, and one is enough at a desk or anywhere warm and enclosed. Several reviewers mention headaches from overspraying indoors, which says more about the strength than about any fault. The amber-woody materials in the base are what give it that staying power, and Fragrantica’s award reviewer found them gentler and more wearable than she expected rather than harsh. If you want to judge it fairly, wear it on a cool day after the bottle has rested for a few weeks: that is when both the coffee and the longevity reports tend to line up.
Khamrah Qahwa vs Khamrah: How It Differs From the Original
Both bottles share cinnamon, praline, vanilla, tonka and benzoin, according to their Fragrantica pyramids. What changes is everything around that core, and Fragrantica even puts them in different families.
CardamomGingerCoffeeCandied fruitsWhite flowersMusk
CinnamonPralineVanillaTonkaBenzoin
DatesNutmegBergamotTuberoseMahonialMyrrhAmberwoodAkigalawood
On skin, opinion is split. Some Fragrantica reviewers think Qahwa is the better of the two thanks to its coffee and chocolate-like depth; at least one owner of both says they smell almost identical. Most land between those: same family warmth, but Qahwa trades the original’s sticky dates for cardamom and a roasted finish. Neither is an upgrade of the other. Our full Lattafa Khamrah review covers the original in detail.
The Khamrah Family, in Order of Release
Reviewers argue over how fresh Waha really is, and Dukhan is the only Khamrah Fragrantica lists for men rather than as unisex. Which Lattafa Khamrah is best? compares all four in depth, and if you are weighing Qahwa against other sweet Lattafas rather than its siblings, see Angham vs Khamrah vs Atheeri vs Eclaire.
Who Should Buy Khamrah Qahwa, and Who Shouldn’t
- You love cardamom, gingerbread and spiced-coffee notes.
- You already own the original Khamrah and want a spicier sibling.
- You want a cold-weather bottle that lasts all day for under £25.
- You want a unisex scent: Fragrantica and Lattafa both list it for women and men.
- You want a dark, bitter espresso fragrance. Coffee is a supporting note here.
- You dislike praline or cardamom: they are the two notes you will smell most.
- Sweet scents give you headaches in enclosed spaces.
- You need something for summer daytime. Try Khamrah Waha instead.
If you are building a shortlist, the fragrances Fragrantica users who like Qahwa also tend to like include the original Khamrah, French Avenue Liquid Brun, Armani Stronger With You Intensely, Viktor&Rolf Spicebomb Extreme and Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Le Parfum. That is a list of shared fans, not a list of smell-alikes, but it tells you the crowd Qahwa sits in: warm, sweet, spiced and built for evenings.
What Season Is Khamrah Qahwa For?
Autumn and winter, mostly evenings. Fragrantica reviewers overwhelmingly describe it as a winter scent and warn against it in hot weather, and the award reviewer admits she could not picture how such a sweet, spicy, syrupy fragrance would behave in the heat. In practice that means roughly September to March in the UK: dinners, the festive season, cold commutes with a coat and scarf. It can work in an office at a single spray, but it is not the subtle choice.
For the rest of the cold-weather line-up, see our best Lattafa winter perfumes.
Price and Value: Is Khamrah Qahwa Worth It?
At £20.99 for 100ml of eau de parfum, roughly 21p per ml, yes, if the style suits you. Value for money is the most consistent point of praise on its Fragrantica page, and the combination of long wear, strong early projection and a recognised award is hard to find at this price. It costs £2 less than the original Khamrah (£22.99), 50p more than Khamrah Dukhan (£20.49) and well under Khamrah Waha (£38.99), so within the line it is priced as a mid-point.
Two things protect your money. First, give a new bottle a few weeks in a cool, dark cupboard before deciding; advice to let it macerate comes up again and again in reviews. Second, buy genuine stock: popular Lattafa bottles are counterfeited, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Group warns UK shoppers that fake fragrances can contain unregulated ingredients. Every bottle we sell carries Lattafa’s holographic seal, and our UK authentication guide explains what to check wherever you buy. The same applies across the rest of our Lattafa UK range.
100% authentic with the Lattafa holographic seal. Free tracked UK delivery on every order, no minimum spend. Dispatched within 24 hours, 30-day returns.
Khamrah Qahwa FAQs
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What does Khamrah Qahwa smell like?
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Is Khamrah Qahwa worth it?
Khamrah Qahwa vs Khamrah: which is better?
Does Khamrah Qahwa smell strongly of coffee?
Is Khamrah Qahwa unisex?
Can I wear Khamrah Qahwa in summer?
What does Qahwa mean?
Written by Shaheen Shah Abrar, Founder of Royal Scents. Notes checked against Fragrantica and Lattafa.com; performance figures are wearer-reported, not measured by us.
Sources We Checked
- Fragrantica: Lattafa Khamrah Qahwa (note pyramid, accords, family, rating and wearer reviews, as of October 2026)
- Fragrantica: Khamrah Qahwa Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 review (Elena Prokofeva, 23 January 2025)
- Lattafa: Khamrah Qahwa official listing (notes, size, gender and claimed longevity)
- Fragrantica: Lattafa Khamrah (original) (note pyramid, family and rating for comparison)
- Fragrantica: Khamrah Dukhan and Khamrah Waha (launch years and gender listings)
- Anti-Counterfeiting Group (UK guidance on counterfeit fragrance)