Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

This subject was drop from my latest literary project, Monkey Bread. It didn't fit the subject focus. I thought it was information people should know so I posted it here. I didn't know that there was a coffee ceremony in Ethiopia. A bit of hidden cultural history. Peace Matomah

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Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

Not many people know of the unique traditions surrounding coffee in Ethiopia. This particular coffee comes from the Oromio cooperative in Ethiopia, and for the last two years our Coffee Department, and other coffee fanatics within our circle, have considered this our finest green coffee. We roast it with a delicacy that hides none of its charm. Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe comes from the Sidamo region in Eastern Ethiopia, southeast from the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 12 million Ethiopians find their lively hood in the coffee industry, and while Ethiopia exports around 60 percent of its coffee, the drink has deep domestic significance for the country. In fact, many Ethiopians practice a traditional ceremony around coffee.

Not surprisingly, the ceremony is quite social. It is used to welcome guests into one’s home. Traditionally, the coffee ceremony involved drinking the brew either salted, or mixed with butter. According to legend, an ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi noticed his goats became frisky after eating the dark leaves and red cherries of a local shrub. The berries had a similar effect on Kaldi. He shared them with a monk from a nearby monastery, who discovered a brew of the boiled berries kept him alert during evening prayers. The ceremony, which can take a few hours, usually begin with a young woman dressed in traditional attire. She'll roast raw beans over a stove until they are black, releasing a familiar aroma that mingles with ceremonial incense. She'll pour three cups for each guest, serving the eldest first. After the third cup is consumed. Ethiopians believe a blessing is bestowed and one's spirit is transformed. In some parts of the country, this ceremony takes place three times a day and is the village's main social event. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is prized by connoisseurs for its delicate fragrance of orange blossoms and lemony tones. It has an elegant sweet and clean finish. Yirgacheffe charms you with its high citrus notes, sensual wisp of flowers, and round body.

Coffee ceremonies also play other social roles. Coffee time, more than just an ordinary coffee break, symbolizes an important get-together of family members, thereby helping to foster family ties and create an important opportunity to cultivate children and the young with the desired social norms and values. The good are blessed and the evil condemned by elders. Moreover, nourishment of friendship and hospitality to guests, expression of love and respect for "superiors", sharing of information and spiritually expressing the desire for the protection, wellbeing and prosperity of the individual and the collective are all aspects of this traditional coffee ritual. All these are performed while drinking coffee together, two to three times a day.