Dubai is always one notch louder.

Everything in Dubai is one notch louder than it needs to be. The tea was no different.

Eighty dirhams. A piece of gold leaf floating on top. I drank it anyway. The saffron was real. The cardamom was right. The gold did, as gold does, nothing — but the view did most of the work the gold was pretending to.

Down below, twelve lanes of traffic moved like a river that had been very expensive to commission. I held the cup with both hands. The waiter, who knew exactly what he was selling, smiled at exactly the right moment.

Drink Saffron tea, with gold leaf

Place a hotel high enough that the cars looked like seeds

Cost 80 AED