Ethiopia is world renowned for its coffee and coffee holds a special place in Ethiopian traditions and customs. As many of you know, I don’t drink coffee or tea back home (unless it is herbal and I am sick)….but I had heard so much about the coffee here that this past weekend – I had 2 cups of coffee! This is a big deal for me – this is only my second and third cup of coffee ever in my life! The first time I tried coffee back in undergrad, I had to add so much sugar that I did not like it at all! I might as well drink hot chocolate I thought and ever since then, hot chocolate has become my “hot” drink of choice.
However, this past weekend, Mary, Eric and I went to a place called Temocha which according to the Lonely Planet has the best coffee in all of Addis Ababa. It is this small shop that feels like it is caught in a time warp – it is like an old apothecary shop with huge bottles and a large wooden counter and the cashier wears a white lab coat. The room does not have any chairs – you stand at large counters and drink your coffee and the entire room is filled with the smoke that emanates from roasting the coffee beans! It smelt so warm and rustic. I had a cappuccino (which in Ethiopia is essentially hot chocolate with a small shot of coffee) – it was very yummy and the flavour was very rich.
Oh…another story on the coffee in Ethiopia while I remember it. There is this chain of coffee shops known as Kaldi’s Coffee. Kaldi’s has basically taken everything Starbucks and stamped their name on it. The logo is exactly the same (except instead of the word Starbucks, it says Kaldi’s). The dark green and rich tones of the interior and the coffee cups are the same. The employee uniforms are the same. The décor is the same. No joke. Essentially, Kaldi’s and Starbucks are one in the same, except nobody apparently remembered to mention this to Starbucks which came as a rude awakening when they discovered what Kaldi’s had done. Apparently, the result was that Starbucks launched a lawsuit or was thinking of launching a lawsuit against Kaldi’s – I am not sure about the exact outcome, but apparently due to some government intervention or other (and from what I recall the story is pretty interesting), Starbucks abandoned its claim.
OK – back to the story. So on Sunday, our landlord, Terefe, his wife Yeshi, his children Melat, Nethi, Abel and Baumlik and Elfie and Kazitch hosted a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony on our front verandah/porch. It was such a beautiful gesture and really made us feel welcome. It was like we were a part of the family! First, they covered the floor of the entire verandah with traditional/ceremonial fresh green grass (long blades of it laid out in a thatchwork formation). They they set up the main setting which included a chair for Yeshi who oversaw the ceremony, a stool for Kazitch who helped to fan the flames of the coals, the coal burner, the heavy pot in which all of the fresh green coffee beans were roasted, fresh incense, and a goblet holding the sugar. Yeshi began the ceremony by roasting the fresh green coffee beans (I had never seen fresh coffee before) until they turned black. While she was doing this, we feasted on Injera (traditional, flat Ethiopian Bread made out of the Ethiopian grain called Teff) and I had scrambled eggs with it. Mary and Eric had their Injera with Scrambled Egg and Beef Fir Fir (A spicy medley of beef and spices in a red sauce). The food was delicious. When we were finished, Melat took the coffee beans that her mother had just finished roasting and pounded them by hand using a mortar and pestle to ensure that the coffee beans were ground into a fine powder. This was then added to the water and boiled in a pot on the fresh coal stove. The whole time, traditional incense (which smells very similar to Indian Sambrani/Agrabathi and Mary told me, Greek incense) was generating a light and calm aroma that wafted around the porch.
The plates were cleared and then we were served snacks with our coffee which included a delightful fresh bread, a traditional Ethiopian trail mix made of barley and chic peas and wait for it…..POPCORN! Yes, there was popcorn – my favourite snack food ever! It was like they were reading my mind.
The coffee ceremony is very elaborate and took about 1.5-2 hours (this included lunch, but it does not always have lunch included). Yeshi told us that she makes coffee about 3 times per day, but I don’t think she goes through the whole ceremony each time (but I will double check). Each person is served three cups of coffee (I stopped after my first) and between each serving, the coffee is boiled anew on top of the coal furnace/stove. The coffee was very rich, and dark, and had an extremely strong flavour. Had I been a coffee person, I would have been in heaven. I enjoyed it and I loved the smell, but it was a little bit bitter for me (nowhere near Canada though – but still a bit too strong for my taste).
Afterwards, we all watched some Ethiopian music videos and I found the songs that I constantly hear on the minibus, which I LOVE! The first song is called Balageru (which means countryside) and it is an upbeat Amharic song about the countryside. It is sung by Gosail and Ephram. The second song is Ababaiyo, sung by Ethiopian superstar Teddy Afro. Ababaiyo is sung on New Years especially and it is quite upbeat and fun! Maybe you can try and find these songs on You Tube – I tried logging on to You Tube yesterday to put on a link, but there was no chance that the internet would load You Tube. No chance at all.
All of this makes me think again about how Terefe and Yeshi have essentially adopted us as their kids while we stay here. They have welcomed us and included us in their family’s celebrations and special occasions. We have only known them for a little over 3 weeks, yet it feels like there is a connection that reaches further back. I am grateful to them for making this feel like home. I am grateful to them for sharing their home with us. I am grateful to them for making us feel welcome. It means the world to us. Amezikinnalo!
