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For Nour al-Deen, who lives in Cairo's working-class Shubra District, Egypt's revolution was something to watch from the sidelines. "I didn't participate because I couldn't," he says, sitting in his family-run coffee shop. "I have supported my family since I was a child. Now I am married with two daughters, and I can't afford to miss a day's work. That was the case with many around here."

That is not to say that Mr. Deen didn't support the demands of the revolution, immortalized in the famous chant demanding "bread, freedom, and social justice."

"I hoped for complete change," he remembers. "I wanted justice and equality. I wanted a standard of living that made things feel a bit easier."

But his hopes were dashed during former President Mohamed Morsi's year in office. "His year was a bad year," says Deen. In the months immediately following President Hosni Mubarak's downfall, the Muslim Brotherhood had promised it would not run a candidate for president, insisting it wasn't power hungry. Deen blames Mr. Morsi's poor record on the movement's last-minute change of heart. "He failed because the Brotherhood weren't ready. Now, we are suffering."

Deen's income has halved since the uprising, with more and more Egyptians finding it difficult to come up with the 30 or so cents he charges for a cup of tea. "Providing food, buying the things that we require every day … it's harder now," he says, summing up the fruits of Egypt's revolution. "I just want to be able to provide for my family. I just want to control my life."

Deen says he now understands that the January 2011 uprising was a mistake because it was leaderless and led to chaos. He, like many working-class Egyptians, sees only one way forward: the elevation of Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the head of the current interim military regime, to the presidency. "He's a strict man and Egypt needs a powerful figure," Deen explains. "The people love him."