Kaldi

It seems to me that no blog about Ethiopia would be complete without a post dedicated to coffee. 

Ethiopia is not only the birthplace of mankind but is also thought to be the birthplace of man’s first cup of coffee.

The legend is some variation of the following:  A long time ago, in the 9th century there lived an Ethiopian goat herder by the name of Kaldi.   He was a very observant fellow, and noted that when his goats chewed on the red berries of a certain plant, they became more energized.  Kaldi tried chewing on the berries himself and found the same energizing effect. 

He then took the berries to a certain holy man.  The holy man was not impressed, got cranky, and threw Kaldi’s berries into a fire.  As the berries burned, the beans inside fell out and started to roast.  Even the grumpy holy man liked the aroma of the roasting beans.  He ordered his servants to quickly rake the beans from the embers.  The beans were then ground up, dissolved in water, and voila—a cup of coffee!

popcorn served at most coffee ceremonies

It appears that this was the start of a tradition of serious coffee consumption in Ethiopia.  From traditional coffee ceremonies, to cappuccinos in places you would least expect, to the upscale Kaldi’s coffee chain, coffee is everywhere.  

 In order to try and fit in, we have been doing our fair share of coffee drinking.  I’m sure you can imagine how difficult this has been for Mike, but he is making a stellar effort.  The kids are joining in, with the odd cappuccino.   I particularly enjoy the coffee ceremonies because nobody gives you a funny look when you heap three spoons of sugar into a small cup of coffee.