One special day, I was invited to one of the most unique ceremonies in the world, yet the most common in Ethiopia: The Coffee Ceremony. A young woman, wrapped around with a thin white traditional Ethiopian dress, was sitting on top of a mini platform with decorations and equipment needed for the ceremony. As the lady was preparing for the ceremony to serve people with the exclusive cup of coffee, my family and I sat on mini wooden chairs in front of the platform. The woman cordially welcomed us in Amharic and even politely invited me to take a photo with her as memorabilia.
![]() I sitting on the platform where the ceremony took place, photo taken by Ga Yun (Lynna) Kim’s family] |
The process of the Coffee Ceremony was also very fascinating. The performance first started by roasting fresh coffee beans on top of heated stones, unlike using already roasted beans; this very first step plays a great role in adding on to the fresh flavor of the coffee. After roasting the coffee beans for a while, the young woman rotated around the large basket of roasted coffee beans, allowing our family to inhale its special scent. The burnt smell of freshly roasted coffee beans tingled my nostrils and watered my mouth. When we asked the woman where the coffee was from, she answered that it was probably from Oromia, a regional state of Ethiopia which is famous for its coffee production. The performer continued on by manually grinding the coffee with a wooden masher, creating hand-made ground coffee for the ceremony. At that moment, water in a tall ceramic kettle, placed on top of coal and stones, was boiling, signaling for the final steps of the performance to happen. As a response to that, the woman poured some of the ground coffee into the kettle and finally the coffee was ready.
![]() during the coffee ceremony, photo taken by Ga Yun (Lynna) Kim] |
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Ga Yun (Lynna) Kim
Grade 11
International Community School of Addis Ababa
Ga Yun (Lynna) Kim student_reporter@dherald.com
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