Coffee Ceremony

April 5 - Everywhere one goes in Ethiopia, there is coffee!  And there is no better coffee than in Ethiopia! Coffee originated here around the 3rd century. As the story goes, a herdsman named Kaldi noticed his goats became hyperactive after eating the red berries and leaves from a certain plant. So, like a typical herdsman, he followed his flock and ate some, too.  He immediately ran to a nearby monastery to proclaim his discovery.  From that day on Kaldi's idea continued to brew (get it?). 

The raw coffee beans are roasted over an open flame In a special pan only for this use.  When perfectly roasted, the beans are cooled then crushed by hand. The coffee powder is put in a special pot with water and brought to a boil over the coals. As soon as it boils, the pot is put on the ground (and I think this is how we get the term coffee "grounds") for a few minutes to allow the sediment to fall to the bottom of the pot. Then the first of 3 rounds of the most amazing coffee is served, with the first round being the strongest and the second and third rounds progressively weaker. It is truly an art form watching the coffee women perform the ceremony. Just a heads up - allow yourself a couple of hours to REALLY enjoy this. 

These photos were taken in Harar, home to Ethiopia's largest Muslim concentration.

So much more to come from Harar...