The Story of Ethiopian Coffee Beans An Introduction to Ethiopian Coffee

Coffee culture has a long and profound history. For people in the past, drinking coffee was by no means simple; it could even be described as a sophisticated and ancient art. In Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, drinking coffee is an important ritual. With the arrival of the fourth wave of coffee, people have begun to focus on understanding the upstream stories of coffee as an agricultural crop. Since that is the case, let us start from Ethiopia and explore the coffee cultures of these coffee origins.

The Birthplace of Coffee

Ethiopia is located in East Africa. In the forests of its southern Kaffa region alone, there are as many as 5,000 varieties of wild coffee beans. It is generally believed that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee - local residents discovered that after cattle and sheep ate a plant with red fruits, they became excited, extraordinarily strong and even seemed crazed. The local people then picked the fruits to try and slowly found themselves becoming more energetic. So they began to harvest them and deliberately cultivate them. Because they came from Kaffa, the world gradually named it Coffee.

Ethiopia is currently the largest coffee-producing country in Africa, but only 60% of its coffee beans are used for export. The remainder is used for various ceremonies, such as weddings where people create mixtures of coffee beans and coffee pulp, coffee with honey, and various herbs used to create medicine to ward off misfortune. This demonstrates that coffee is an inseparable part of local life.

Coffee as a Faith

For Ethiopians, coffee is both a faith and a culture. Among all ceremonies, however, the most important is the coffee-drinking ritual - the entire process of roasting coffee beans, grinding coffee powder, brewing coffee and drinking coffee is called the "Coffee Ceremony."

This ceremony is somewhat similar to the Japanese tea ceremony, containing a spiritual consciousness within it. The purpose of the ceremony is to reach a conclusion, which can be used for a marriage proposal or to mediate family conflicts. The entire coffee ceremony is very lengthy, averaging about 1.5 hours. The ceremony begins with roasting coffee beans, after which a well-dressed woman places the roasted beans in a pot, allowing everyone to smell the aroma, and then slowly brews the coffee.

The first cup of coffee is called Abol, which is the most important and also the most difficult to drink. When resolving conflicts, one party must bravely drink this cup and express their views; the second cup is called Tona, brewed again by adding water, and still has a strong taste. If one party accepts the other's viewpoint, they will finish drinking it. If the other party does not drink, there will be no third cup; the third cup is called Baraka, representing joy when matters are resolved and conclusions are satisfactory. Often, the younger generation will also be invited to drink this cup.

Whether in wealthy households or among poor farmers, the coffee ceremony is performed. Someone once joked that the reason more than 80 ethnic groups in Ethiopia can coexist harmoniously must be attributed to coffee. Although this is a joke, given their great importance placed on coffee, it is not without reason.

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over recommendation: V60 / 90°C / 1:15 / two minutes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To begin exploring Ethiopian coffee at home, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the ideal entry point. Known for clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, it captures the light, elegant, tea-like character of the Yirgacheffe region - like a clean glass of lemon tea.

If you want the natural-process fruit intensity that Ethiopia is famous for, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry is a great choice. Only fully ripe cherries are dried whole on raised beds for three to five weeks, giving the cup tropical fruit aromas, citrus acidity, a juicy berry body and honeyed sweetness, with a creamy, smooth finish. For a bolder, more complex profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Natural Hamasho 74158 shows perfumed lemon, strawberry and star fruit sweetness, a floral lift and a long finish.