Coffee has deep and symbolic meaning for Ethiopia and its citizens. According to the Ethiopian proverb “Buna Dabo Naw” which means “Coffee is our bread”. Coffee and Ethiopia are intertwined and are inseparable. Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony is akin to Japanese Tea Ceremony.
The Japanese Tea Ceremony, called the Way of Tea, is a cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of Matcha or powdered green tea. A formal tea party in Japan can last for as much as four hours. It is quite a paradox that citizens of a country who worship time and promptness can spend as much as four hours to partake in a leisurely and languid tea party, where things move quite slowly and it looks as if time is moving in slow motion.
Similarly, Coffee Ceremony too, takes lot of time and is quite ritualistic. It is performed with drama accompanied with soft music. It can be held at any time of the day, but typically is conducted in the morning, afternoon or in the evening. Usually it is conducted in the house with family, relatives and friends. It is also performed when welcoming guests or bidding them a farewell.
Being invited to a Coffee Ceremony is an honour. Accepting and attending it, shows respect to the host. Coffee Ceremony is a stellar example of experiencing traditional Ethiopian hospitality.
Before starting the ceremony, the entire area is swept and cleaned. Thin, delicately long, bright green scented grass procured from the country side is laid out on the floor and the smell permeates the air.
The ceremony is always conducted by a young woman dressed in the traditional white Ethiopian costume with coloured woven borders. The lady gently washes a handful of coffee seeds and places them on a preheated pan, stirs and shakes the husk away.
Meanwhile the visitors start pouring in and the room is pregnant with anticipation and expectation. Small talk is on and visitors exchange views, gossip and politics. There is laughter, bonhomie and back slapping. Some might even break into Amharic songs which have a lyrical quality which is quite surreal. Visitors rub their eyes in disbelief! It is like being transported back into history! One can easily imagine being part the very first Coffee Ceremony held hundreds of years ago!
As the coffee seeds are being roasted, the lady takes out hot burning charcoal, places them in an earthen container and puts incense into them. Magically the entire room is filled with incredible aroma. The incense bowl is taken to all parts of the room.
Later, the lady prepares fresh popcorn and lovely Ethiopian peanuts (Occholini). Ethiopian Occholini has an out-of-the world taste. Roasted and slightly salted they make for an excellent snack. Also on offer are roasted barley and sunflower seeds.
The roasted coffee
seeds are taken out and passed around. Fresh roasted coffee beans have a strong
smell. Everyone in the room takes in as much aroma as possible. Starbucks or
any other swanky coffee joint can’t replicate the ambiance created in the humble
hut or a ramshackle room.
The effect is quite simple but stunningly majestic. Most of the visitors fall silent at this point of time. They are overwhelmed by the visual grandeur!
The roasted coffee seeds are then ground into a fine powder. The coffee powder is mixed with water and slowly stirred in Jebena (a locally made black clay pot). The resultant coffee is very dark and has an unbelievable flavour.
The lady then gracefully pours a thin stream of coffee into small little cups (cini) from a height of nearly one feet. To pour coffee slowly and ever so gracefully, with a serene expression might take years and years of practice to perfect and execute!
The coffee is first offered to the eldest member of the congregation and then to all the others. If visitors are present, it is offered to the eldest of the group, then to the visitors and then everyone else. Once coffee is offered and accepted, the visitors become part of the family and of the tribe. It is like ‘breaking bread together” concept followed by the early Christians. The bond of friendship, trust and togetherness is sealed with the partaking of coffee.
Ethiopians ae
not keen milk drinkers. It is customary to have coffee with sugar. In the rural
areas coffee might be offered with salt or butter but never with milk. Coffee
with milk is considered a sissy habit! I still vividly remember the scornful expression
our PEDA coffee Barista gave me when asked for coffee with milk. It is indelibly
etched in my mind!
“Coffee with milk?” she gasped!!! “Maceto” she yelled as she handed over a cup of coffee with milk. She gave a look of disgust and pity that could have buried a lesser mortal in a ten-metre-deep pit. But I was made of sterner stuff!
Coffee is served
thrice in a Coffee Ceremony. The third offering is the best and is considered to
be a blessing. Third round is supposed to transform one’s spirt. The offerings are named; Abol (the first round)
or Anidi Gize (pronounced Und Gizo), Tona (second round) or huleti Gize (pronounced
Ulat gizo) and Baraka (third round) or sositi gize (pronounced sost gizo).
Coffee is Ethiopia’s most famous export, forming 2/3 of its total exports. Ethiopian coffee is famed all over the world for its strong flavour and excellent taste. It is one of the most premium brand of coffee and having it anywhere in the world via a Coffee Ceremony brings back warm feelings and remembrances for the Ethiopian diaspora of the idyllic lifestyle that they have left behind.
I first
experienced the Coffee Ceremony when Hailey Grebrestadik’s batch of BA in
Management, invited management faculty for fresher’s day celebrations in PEDA
campus. Even though conducted with very limited resources, the simple ceremony was
enchanting. We were all grateful for the
Ethiopian students for treating us with their speciality – Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
where Coffee takes the centre stage and rightly so – ‘Buna Dabo Naw – Coffee is our Bread’.
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