A Taste of the Kingdom in Five Icy Refreshers

Mocktails in Madinah

If you’re looking for mocktails in Madinah, Furni Café has five of them on one menu, located just moments from the Prophet’s Mosque, Furni Café offers a unique menu of five non-alcoholic mocktails named after major Saudi cities, catering to the massive influx of tourists and pilgrims visiting Madinah. Each beverage is thoughtfully crafted to reflect the character of its namesake location, ranging from the sweet, mango-filled Makkah Mango and the refreshing Madina Mojito to the vibrant Jeddah Deep Blue, the traditional hibiscus-based Dammam Karkadeh, and the zesty Riyadh Red.

Operating around the clock, the café serves these ice-cold drinks prepared with Zamzam water, providing a welcoming spot for travelers to cool off between prayers. This creative beverage line not only highlights the cultural diversity of the Kingdom’s visitors but also serves as an engaging way for guests to experience different regions of Saudi Arabia through flavor.

That’s the short answer. The longer one is, the more fun it is, because picking a drink here turns into a small trip around the Kingdom.

Why Madinah is busier than ever (and thirstier)

You’ve probably felt it on the streets around the Haram. Madinah is full. Preliminary Ministry of Tourism data published on 8 April 2026 showed about 28.9 million domestic tourists in the first quarter of 2026, up 16% on the same period in 2025, and Madinah ranked highest of all for hotel occupancy at 82% (Saudi Press Agency). The average across the country was 59%.

And the year kept going. On 4 November 2026, Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb said Saudi Arabia welcomed 61.2 million tourists in the first half of 2026, with tourism spending reaching SR151.9 billion (Arab News).

So who are all these people? A lot of them are Saudis travelling from Riyadh, Jeddah, the Eastern Province and everywhere in between. Plenty more are pilgrims from abroad who’ve only ever seen the Kingdom through Makkah and Madinah. Both groups end up walking past the same café doors, usually hot, usually tired, usually wanting something cold.

Furni Café’s mocktail menu stands out for several unique features:

• Crafted with Zamzam Water: Every drink on the menu is prepared using blessed water from the well of Zamzam.
• Saudi City-Themed “Mini Tour”: The menu features five signature iced refreshers, each named after a major Saudi city:
  • Makkah Mango: A sweet, tropical mango juice drink topped with fresh diced mango.
  • Madina Mojito: The house special combining citrus, fresh mint, and sparkling soda—also the lightest option at 120 kcal.
  • Jeddah Deep Blue: A photogenic, Red Sea-inspired drink made with non-alcoholic blue curaçao fruit syrup and citrus soda.
  • Dammam Karkadeh: A tangy, deep-red iced infusion of dried hibiscus flowers with deep regional roots.
  • Riyadh Red: A bold red berry mocktail balanced with crisp lime, fresh mint, and soda.
• Blend of Modern & Regional Heritage: The lineup combines modern sparkling fruit mocktails with traditional regional favorites like Karkadeh (hibiscus tea), offering both contemporary tastes and nostalgic, home-style flavors.

All five mocktails are priced at 29 SAR each, served over ice, and available around the clock (closing only during salah) just a four-minute walk from Al Masjid an-Nabawi.

Why Furni named its drinks after Saudi cities

Furni didn’t start in a boardroom. As the café puts it on its story page, it started in “our mothers’ kitchens”, in the UK, the Middle East and Kashmir, and came home to Madinah after a lot of travelling. It’s the kind of place that makes Karak proper and prepares every food and drink with Zamzam water.

Naming the cold drinks after Saudi cities fits that story. A family that’s been around the world settles beside the Prophet’s Mosque and then points back out at the rest of the country. The nice part is that a visitor from Dammam gets to see their city on a menu in Madinah, and a pilgrim from Jakarta or Manchester gets a little map of a country they might not get to see on this trip.

The five Icy Refreshers, one city at a time

Makkah Mango

Makkah Mango is the sweet one. It’s tropical mango juice, served chilled over ice and topped with fresh diced mango, so it’s thick and golden and you’ll probably want a spoon for the last bit. It carries the name of the holiest city in Islam, the place every pilgrim in Madinah has either just come from or is about to reach. If you’re unsure where to start, start here.

Madina Mojito

Madina Mojito is the house special, and it’s the one that belongs to the street you’re standing on. Zesty citrus, fresh mint and sparkling soda over ice, pale and bright and clean. No alcohol, obviously, just the mint-and-lime freshness a mojito is known for. It’s also the lightest of the five on the menu at 120 kcal, which makes it an easy second round.

Jeddah Deep Blue

You can’t miss Jeddah Deep Blue. Blue curaçao fruit syrup (non-alcoholic here, it’s a flavoured syrup) with citrus soda and ice, and it comes out the colour of the Red Sea on a clear morning. Fair enough for a drink named after the port city where so many pilgrims first land in the Kingdom. It’s fruity, fizzy and very photogenic, which matters if you’re planning to post it.

Dammam Karkadeh

Dammam Karkadeh is the grown-up one. It’s an iced infusion of dried hibiscus flowers, deep ruby red, tangy rather than sugary. Dammam sits on the Gulf coast in the Eastern Province, right across the country from Madinah, and this is the drink with the oldest roots of the five. More on that below.

Riyadh Red

Riyadh Red is a red berry mocktail with crisp lime, fresh mint and soda over ice. It’s bold and a little sharp, which suits a drink named after the capital. If Makkah Mango is too sweet for you and Karkadeh is too tart, Riyadh Red sits somewhere in the middle.

Prices and calories are from the Furni menu as of November 2026.

Karkadeh: the hibiscus drink with a long history in the region

Karkadeh (كركديه) is the Arabic name for hibiscus, and the drink made from its dried, deep-red petals is a familiar one across the Arab world. You steep the flowers, sweeten them a little, and get something that tastes somewhere between cranberry and a sour plum. Arab News describes the basic recipe as just water, sugar and dried hibiscus, and calls it a drink that’s “perfect for iftar” (Arab News).

That’s partly why it earns its place on this list. The other four are modern mocktails. Karkadeh is what a lot of people’s grandmothers made, and at Furni it’s served cold over ice. If you’ve grown up with it, it’ll taste like home. If you haven’t, it’s the most interesting thing on the menu to try.

When to order a mocktail in Madinah

Furni is open 24 hours, closing only during salah, so really, whenever you like works. A few moments work especially well, though.

• Warm Madinah afternoons. You’ve walked from your hotel, the sun’s high and Asr is still a while off. This is Jeddah Deep Blue or Madina Mojito territory: cold, fizzy and light.
• After Isha with friends. The courtyard crowds thin out, the air cools a little and nobody’s in a hurry. Order a mix, put them all on the table and argue about which city wins.
• Between prayers. The café is four minutes on foot from Al Masjid an-Nabawi, at Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Bada’ah. That’s close enough to sit down, cool off and walk back in time. Get directions here.

Which city is your favourite?

We’re running a little poll on Instagram and TikTok, and we’d love to know where you land. Makkah, Madina, Jeddah, Dammam or Riyadh? Vote for your city, or vote for the drink you liked best, even if it isn’t from home. Mango loyalists, we see you.

Find us at @furni.cafe on Instagram and @furni.cafe on TikTok.

Order your city

Which city are you from? Order your city’s refresher and tag us. Snap it on the table, tag @furni.cafe, and tell us whether it tastes like home. And if your city isn’t on the list yet, tell us that too. We’re curious which one you’d add.