Priyanka Chopra has been keeping her fans updated about her work as UNICEF Ambassador in Ethiopia. The Holly-Bollywood diva recently shared a video of her enjoying some rich black Ethiopian Coffee. Another video giving a glimpse of the traditional utensils and method used in making the coffee has got us coffee enthusiasts intrigued.
So here’s a quick look into the coffee tradition of Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.
Brewing coffee the Ethiopian fashion
The Ethiopian traditional coffee maker is an earthenware, a jar with a wide, bulbous base narrowing upward, and with a side spout to pour the coffee from. Called as the ‘jebena’, the vessel containing a mix of water and coarsely ground beans is heated over charcoal. Coffee is directly poured from the jebena into small cups, often handleless. This brewing tradition is a part of the Ethiopian coffee culture and is followed across the country.
The coffee ceremony
“Coffee is the bread of Ethiopia” with coffee being a major product of export from the country. Even otherwise, half of the coffee beans produced is consumed domestically. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is a very hospitable cultural practice and anybody is welcome to join for a coffee session which involves three rounds. Prepared by women dressed in traditional garbs, with frankincense wafting all around, the roasted, coffee beans, ground in mortar and pestle, boiled in the jebena is served swirling and brimming to the rim.
Saying yay to sugar and butter, nay to milk
Ethiopian coffee is always sweetened by either sugar or honey. Another unique topping is butter but milk is never used in the traditional coffee. Salt too could be added. Snacks are often passed along with the coffee and roasted barley and popcorn are the top picks.
Distinct fruit and floral flavour to its coffee
The coffee beans' processing method decides the tropical flavour that accompanies every cup of the Ethiopian coffee.
The coffee made from beans naturally processed, the traditional method since centuries, will tickle your taste buds with flavours of blueberry and citrus and a faint taste of chocolate and has a syrupy consistency. The Harrar region usually prefers this method of natural, dry processing wherein the beans are dried with the fruit pulp still on rendering the unique blend of flavours.
Coffee beans undergoing the modern wet processing method, where the fruit pulp is removed immediately from the beans, gives a jasmine or lemongrass flavour to your cup of coffee. This 'petelsome' flavour is a notable alternative for those not keen on being ‘fruitsome’.
Any wonder why Chopra labelled the Ethiopian Coffee #everything?