Cultural Significance
In parts of Ethiopia, the woman of the home (or a younger woman in the household) performs or participates in the two- to three-hour coffee ritual three times a day (once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening). It is also customary for women to perform the ritual when welcoming visitors at home and at celebrations.
The coffee ritual is considered the most important social event in many villages, and it is a sign of respect and friendship to be invited to a coffee ritual. Guests at a ceremony can discuss topics such as politics, society and gossip. Plenty of praise is also given to the master of the ceremony and the brews she produces.
Regardless of the time of day, occasion (or lack thereof) and invited guests, the ceremony usually follows a clear structure, with some variations.
Beyond mere socialization, the coffee ritual also plays a spiritual role in Ethiopia, one that emphasizes the importance of Ethiopian coffee culture. Coffee has a long history of association with Islam, and it is said that a spiritual transformation takes place during the three rounds of the coffee ritual thanks to coffee's spiritual properties.
The coffee ritual
The long Ethiopian coffee ritual involves transforming raw, unshelled coffee beans into finished coffee cups. It begins with the room being prepared for the ritual.
First, the woman performing the ceremony scatters fresh, aromatic grasses and flowers over the floor. She begins burning incense to ward off evil spirits and continues to burn incense throughout the ceremony. She fills a round-bottomed, black clay pot (known as a jebena) with water and places it over glowing coals.
Then the hostess takes a handful of green coffee beans and thoroughly cleans them in a heated, long-handled, wok-like frying pan. Holding the pan over glowing coals or a small fire, she stirs and shakes the skins and dirt off the beans until they are clean.
Once the beans are clean, she slowly roasts them in the pan she used to clean them. During roasting, she keeps the roast as even as possible by shaking the beans (similar to how you would shake an old-fashioned popcorn popper) or stirring them constantly. Roasting can be stopped when the beans are a medium brown color, or it can continue until they are black and glistening with essential oils. The aroma of the roasted coffee is powerful and is considered an important part of the ceremony.
After the hostess has roasted the beans, she grinds them. She uses a tool similar to a mortar and pestle. The "mortar" is a small, heavy wooden bowl called a mukecha (pronounced moo-key-cha), and the "pounder" is a wooden or metal cylinder with a blunt end, called a zenezena. With these tools, she crushes the beans to a coarsely ground consistency.
When the beans are ground, the water in the jebena is usually ready for the coffee. The performer of the ceremony removes a straw lid from the coffee pot and adds the freshly ground coffee. The mixture is brought to a boil and removed from heat.
At this point, the coffee is ready to be served. A tray of very small, handleless ceramic or glass cups arranged with the cups very close together. The master of ceremonies pours the coffee in a single stream from about a foot above the cups, ideally filling each cup equally without breaking the flow of coffee. The coffee grounds stay in the pot. This technology prevents coarse grinds from ending up in the coffee cups.
In some cases, the youngest child can serve the oldest guest the first cup of coffee. After that, the executor serves everyone else.
Guests can add sugar if they wish. Milk is usually not offered. After adding sugar, guests drink bunna tetu ("drink coffee") and then praise the hostess for her coffee-brewing skills and the coffee for its taste.
After the first round of coffee, there are usually two additional servings. The three servings are called abol, tona and baraka. Each serving is progressively weaker than the first. Each cup is said to transform the spirit, and the third serving is considered a blessing to those who drink it.
Variations
The procedure described above is common throughout Ethiopia. However, there are some variations. Here are the most common:
When the coffee begins to crackle when roasted, the hostess can add cardamom, cinnamon and cloves to the mixture. Restaurants (especially those in the West) can use an electric coffee grinder to speed up the grinding process. Although the coffee is usually unfiltered, some hostesses may filter it through a fine mesh sieve to remove the grounds. In rural areas, coffee may be served with salt instead of sugar. In some regions of Ethiopia, butter or honey may be added to the brew. Snacks of roasted barley, peanuts, popcorn or coffee beans can be good