Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
Performing a cultural Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
Experience the cultural Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony firsthand
Learn how to perform a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony — from preparing the beans to serving the coffee — in the authentic way of Ethiopians.
Ethiopia is world-renowned for its exquisite coffee and proudly holds the title of the birthplace of this beloved beverage. The story begins in the western Ethiopia, at the region of Kaffa (ከፋ). Keffa or Kaffa is where coffee was first discovered and from which the word "coffee" is derived. In Amharic, Ethiopia's official language, coffee is known as "Buna" (ቡና).
Watch short video to see just how delicious the Ethiopian coffee tastes!
if you want to experience traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony in Addis Ababa.
This page explains why coffee is so essential to Ethiopia and its people. Continue reading to: -
- Discover what Ethiopian cultural coffee ceremony is
- Understand why Ethiopians celebrate drinking coffee with ‘ceremony’
- Experience how Ethiopians consume coffee as part of their traditional customs
- Know what you need to set up the coffee ceremony Ethiopian/Eritrean style
- Follow the step-by-step process of making coffee the traditional Ethiopian way
Contact us to experience the Ethiopian cultural coffee ceremony with Merit’s full or half day city excursions in Addis Ababa.
GUEST EXPERIENCE
“Great Transit/Stopover tour!”
The highlight of the tour was without a doubt the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony & Lunch. We went to a local ladies house in the hills surrounding Addis, we were made to feel very welcome and one of the family.
The various stages of the coffee preparation were explained including washing, roasting, grounding the beans and then making the actual coffee. The coffee really was the best I’ve tasted.
Thank you to Biruk & our driver Bekele for an amazing day out and insight in to Addis.
Tripadvisor review: Full-Day Private City Tour of Addis Ababa
By Damon Goodman-Andres on March 08, 2025
Let’s start with the impressive Ethiopian legend on how Coffee was discovered.
Coffee was first discovered in the 9th century AD, according to legend, by Kaldi, an Ethiopian goatherd. He noticed that after eating coffee leaves and berries, his goats became unusually energetic and joyful. After trying the berries himself, he became energized and ecstatic.
Then, Kaldi took fresh coffee beans to a local monastery, sharing his discovery.
Initially, the monks were cautious and warned him that the berries might be dangerous, but their doubts vanished when they roasted the beans. The pleasant aroma convinced them to try the coffee themselves.
Indeed, the coffee proved stimulating, helping monks stay awake during nighttime prayers — well done, Kaldi!
COFFEE IN ETHIOPIA'S ECONOMY AND CULTURE
Ethiopia's economy relies heavily on coffee. Ethiopia is Africa's largest coffee grower, producing some of the world's greatest coffee beans.
Coffee has a crucial role in Ethiopia’s economy, taking significant share of its export earnings and GDP. Coffee generates 30-35 percent of Ethiopia’s total export earnings. The livelihood more than 25% of Ethiopia’s population relies on cultivation of coffee.
Ethiopians have a special relationship with coffee, both culturally and socially. Ethiopians had been drinking coffee for hundreds of years before the 15th and 16th centuries AD, when it was first sold to Yemen and the rest of Arabia.
IMPORTANCE OF THE CULTURAL COFFEE CEREMONY IN ETHIOPIA
1. Cultural Significance
Coffee has deep roots in Ethiopia — the birthplace of Arabica coffee and a symbol of hospitality, respect, and community.
Hosting a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony is one of the most cherished customs across the country, especially in rural areas where over 75% of Ethiopians live.
The ceremony can last more than an hour and is performed with patience and reverence, reflecting the Ethiopian sense of time — unhurried, mindful, and communal.
Traditionally, the host (often a woman dressed in cultural attire) carefully prepares the coffee in front of guests, using classic tools such as the jebena (clay pot).
2. Social Aspect
The coffee ceremony serves as a social hub — a place to share news, stories, and emotions.
Conversations often cover:
- Updates about neighbors or relatives
- Community matters (who is sick, who has passed away, or local happenings)
- Everyday reflections, advice, and humor
Offering coffee is considered a gesture of respect and friendship — it’s usually the first thing presented to guests.
The ritual reinforces social bonds and strengthens trust among family members, friends, and neighbors.
Attending one reveals how Ethiopians value relationships over haste — there’s no rushing through; the time spent together is the true essence of the ceremony.
3. Sensory Experience
Beyond its social and cultural value, the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony is a multi-sensory experience:
- The aroma of freshly roasted beans fills the room.
- The sound of beans crackling and being ground by hand draws attention.
- The sight of coffee bubbling in the jebena and being gracefully poured in three rounds (abol, tona, baraka) creates rhythm and beauty.
- The taste of the rich, smooth coffee is often complemented by popcorn or roasted barley.
- The ceremony engages all the senses, inviting participants to slow down, connect, and reflect.
More than just drinking coffee, it’s about feeling present, sharing emotions, and participating in a cultural moment of harmony and togetherness.
The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony is one of the top cultural activities to experience in Ethiopia, embodying the country’s warmth, heritage, and genuine hospitality.
For visitors to Addis Ababa, attending or including a coffee ceremony in their city or layover tour provides a memorable glimpse into Ethiopian life, offering a unique opportunity to connect with local culture, engage in meaningful conversation, and share in the simple joy of a cup of coffee.
Basic tools (utensils) to perform a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony are: -
- Jebena (traditional Ethiopian clay coffee pot) (ጀበና)
- Coffee Cups (የቡና ሲኒዎች) and Coffee Cup Table (ረከቦት)
- Vessel for boiling water (ማንቆርቆሪያ)
- Mortar and pestle (ሙቀጫ እና ዘነዘና)
- Iron pan for roasting the coffee on (የብረት ምጣድ)
- Iron or wooden stick to stir the coffee beans with (መቁያ ወይም መቁሊያ)
- Fire furnace (የከሰል ምድጃ), fan (ማራገቢያ)፣ tongs for picking charcoal (መቆንጠጫ)
- Frankincense burner (እጣን ማጨሻ)
- Plastic bowl (ማስታጠቢያ)
The coffee host makes sure all the materials (utensils) in order. Then, she sprinkles fresh cut green grass (known as Ketema (ቄጤማ) in Amharic) on the ground around the coffee table. The idea behind putting the grass on the ground for the Coffee Ceremony is to create refreshing ambience.
Calling neighbors to attend the Coffee Ceremony, the coffee girl (the host) starts washing the coffee beans by hand. She rubs the beans on the iron pan between her palms. Then, she rinses the coffee berries with clean water.
The next step is putting the coffee beans on the iron pan and roasting it slowly on fire (charcoal) furnace. How dark coffee to brew and drink depends on how long it is roasted. The coffee host stops the roasting process seeing the color of the roasting coffee on the pan.
The unique part of the Ethiopian Cultural Coffee Ceremony is presenting the smoke. The aroma (smoke) of the roasting coffee is offered to the guests. It is a cultural rite to let guests smell the roasting coffee smoke. Guests move the smoke (aroma) of the roasting coffee from the pan to their nose.
NOTE - You can book our full-day or half-day city tour in Addis Ababa to experience the real Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony culture.
And inhale to enjoy the sweet fresh smell of the coffee. In Ethiopian cultures, presenting the roasting coffee smokes for smell is a sign of being a welcoming host (hospitality).
After letting the hot roasted coffee cool down, pounding manually continues. Pounding the coffee is done by hand using mortar and pestle is the next step. As she is grinding the coffee, she boils clean water on the fire furnace using the iron vessel.
While all these process of the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony is going on, participants enjoy chatting. With full attention, they talk about what is new, finding out how things went, and what to do. Different topics are raised during the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Cultural matters, family issues, politics, society, daily matters, are the common.
The most important topic on coffee ceremony of Ethiopia is personal issues. Examples are health, family, farming,
business, and following up on what they discussed before.
After grinding the roasted coffee, and boiling the water in the vessel, the hot water is poured into the Jebena – the typical traditional Ethiopian clay coffee pot. Adding enough coffee powder, the coffee brewing continues with boiling the hot water in the Jebena.
Merit Ethiopian Experience Tours [MEET] has a logo with a shape of a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Pot (Jebena) decorated with the national colors of Ethiopia - Green, Yellow, and Red.
The coffee pot (the clay urn) has varied sizes and slightly different shapes in different parts of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian coffee pot (Jebena) may have one or more spouts. The coffee pot from Tigray region of North Ethiopia and Eritrea has no spout.
When the coffee in the clay pot boils well, the steam (foam) discharges on the top. That is the time to take it off the fire and put it aside. Then, wait for few minutes until the crude (coarse part) of the coffee settles down.
Next, the coffee host burns the frankincense (እጣን) on the charcoal furnace for its sweet smell. Burning frankincense (እጣን) creates enjoyable ambience before pouring the first round of coffee.
Ethiopians drink three cups (rounds) of coffee during the coffee ceremony. The first round of coffee, known as Abol (አቦል), is the strongest and best one.
With special care not to move the crude part of the settled coffee, the coffee woman pours the coffee slowly into the cups one by one. Then, it is handed to the guests together with sugar and a unique herb known as Tena Adam (Rue).
A small piece of leaves from Tena Adam (ጤና አዳም), is dipped in the cup of coffee. Tena Adam (rue) gives the coffee a delicious taste as flavoring agent. The scientific name of Tena Adam (Rue) is “Ruta Chalepenesis”.
Bereka (በረካ) is the name of the second round of coffee to drink. Tona (ቶና) is the last and third round of coffee in Ethiopian Coffee Cultural event. Brewing Bereka and Tona is only by adding more water to the coffee remained in the pot (Jebena). So, Tona is the least strong cup of coffee.
Did you make your coffee following the above steps? Great! Now, before drinking your coffee, you have to let the pot (Jebena) for about 5 minutes. Putting the coffee pot away from the fire (heat) allows the coffee stay still. The crude (coarse) part of the coffee stays at the bottom. And be very slow when pouring the coffee to your cup so that you don’t stir it!
Our tours in Addis Ababa city include the experience of traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony.
For Coffee Lovers, we offer a trip in Addis Ababa for one which focuses only on Coffee. The custom coffee-theme tour in Addis includes visiting a small coffee farm, shopping for coffee at local markets, tasting coffee at the road-side 'Buna-Tetu', and enjoying Ethiopian coffee brewed by best baristas in Addis Ababa.
Check out other interesting Blogs on Ethiopia by Merit Ethiopian Experience Tours. If you have a day in Addis Ababa, you can attend a Cultural Coffee Ceremony Ethiopian way with locals in one of our day trips near Addis.
“Must Do!”
This was a GREAT TOUR. Biruk was our tour guide and he was very knowledgeable about the Ethiopian culture. He was kind and patient. He assisted us in getting better prices on gifts we purchased. I love this guy’s spirit. You can tell he loves his job.
We are from the US and all the things we learned about Ethiopia were false, go and see for yourself. This tour was done on a layover and worth every penny. My favorite part of this tour was the coffee ceremony. We felt welcomed and felt the love.
Review by Octavia P on Viator posted on Wed Jan 01, 2025
Viator review: Full-Day Private City Tour of Addis Ababa
Experience Ethiopian Coffee Cultural Event in Addis Ababa with us
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