Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

I had read about this and wondered if I would be able to experience it, which, to my great delight was arranged for me by Al on Monday afternoon. Almez had prepared the little customery table laid with cups, spoons and coffee pot and placed it on the floor. Beside the tiny table, a small hibachi heating coals with frankincense, giving off that familiar smell reminding me of the incense in church. She sat on a tiny stool and took a small, flat pan and began to roast the green coffee beans over the coals. Once the beans were sufficiently roasted and we could smell their rich, dark, smokey odour, she took them off the heat and put them into a mortar and ground them with the stone pestle into a rich, black dust. She spooned it delicately into the narrow spout of the clay coffee pot and added hot water. We drank two tiny cups each, without sugar or milk. It was so thick and full of flavour, nothing like what I drink at home. Coffee is one of the major exports in Ethiopia, the arabica bean being the most widely known. Al told me that when you share coffee in this traditional way, you would go to the home of one of your neighbours and everyone would sit on the floor, talking and sharing the gossip and stories of the week. Popcorn is served with the coffee, a strange combination, but one that works quite well, I thought.