Ethiopia may be the "Cradle of Mankind" but it's also the original home of coffee. Yigzaw's sister offered us (two other CSers, Yigzaw, and I) a coffee ceremony today and we gladly accepted.
Coffee is consumed in an art form in Ethiopia, and there is no better way than a traditional coffee ceremony to experience Ethiopian coffee. Step by step, the coffee is prepared from roasting to grinding to brewing. The beans are raw before they're roasted on a small stove. Here you see the beans being roasted, and after awhile you see the beans how you see them when you buy coffee at the supermarket.
The roasted beans are brought to each participant to inhale a scent that will be permanently etched into your memory. The smell of fresh roasted coffee is unforgettable! When the beans are finished roasting they are ground by hand using a mortar and pestle, and during preparation I had a go at grinding the coffee.
The coffee is then brewed in a traditional coffee pot called a jebena. After it brews on the stove for about 10 minutes, it is served in a tiny handleless cup called a sini.
During the ceremony at least three cups must be drunk. In Amharic, the first round is called "abol," the second is "huleuteunya," and the third, which is the most important, is "beureuka" (which means "blessing" in Amharic). Our coffee was served to us alongside traditional incense and some popcorn, and sugar is sprinkled in. Upon my third cup of coffee I was completely content.
As a coffee connoisseur I must say that Ethiopian coffee is utterly divine, and unlike other coffees it doesn't keep me awake until the wee hours. I've had a lot of great coffee in Ethiopia but so far the best has been here at Yigzaw's house. A highlight of any journey to Ethiopia would be a spontaneous invite to a home for a coffee ceremony, and so far one of my finest moments was the ceremony today.
