I don’t know if you are aware of the fact that the United States imports 12-15 million pounds of Ethiopian coffee annually, with Starbucks buying a huge amount of Sidamo beans. There are three main regions where Ethiopia coffee beans are grown – Harrar, Ghimbi, and Sidamo. These are considered to be some of the most unique coffees in the world. Coffee generates over 60% of Ethiopia’s total export earnings and, obviously, very important to their economy.

It’s also not commonly known that Kafa is an Ethiopian name and may be where the word “coffee” came from as well as the birthplace of coffee, not South America. Ethiopians have been drinking coffee since the 10th century.

According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, Ethiopia is causing a furor among importers because they are now going to mix coffee beans from different growers. Not a big deal to me but one to specialty roasters. What will Starbucks do?

Almost all visitors to Ethiopia take part in an elaborate coffee ceremony (watch video below…sorry, I apologize for the darkness of the video, but you take what you can get), a sign of friendship and respect. They roast the coffee beans over a charcoal brazier (smells amazing) before using mortar and pestle to grind them and brew the coffee. Guests are then expected to drink three small cups of very, very strong coffee and traditionally, each cup has at least three spoonfuls of sugar added! (Double-gag, since we like black coffee.) An interesting labor-intensive ceremony but I’ll brew in my handy-dandy Mr. Coffee-maker, thank you very much.

lengthy coffee ceremony in Ethiopia
If you haven’t visited Ethiopia, put it at the top of your “must see” list. We waited too long before taking the leap to one of the most extremely unique and fascinating countries in the world because of negative publicity over wars and famine. Ethiopia has amazing rock cut churches in the North and beyond fantastic tribes you may have only seen on National Geographic specials.

Mursi tribe in Ethiopia
Take a look at some of the many (inexpensive) trips Adventure Center offers (on the side bar of this page) along with Green Land Tours (who we used to book a trip for two but they also have group tours), GAP Adventures, and , Culture shock absorber – For a real life experience with a softer landing, choose an Intrepid Comfort adventure.. four of my favorite tour operators and don’t wait any longer. Visit Ethiopia this year…