Coffee History

Today we travel to Ethiopia, among the native lands of origin of the magical roasted bean.

Legend of the discovery 

The coffee plant came to life in the south of the state, in the Sidamo region, growing spontaneously among the wild trees of the forest.

Legend has it that it was Kaldi, an Ethiopian shepherd, who was the first to discover this incredible fruit.

“Thousands and thousands of years ago, a shepherd of the Caffa plateau in Ethiopia named Kaldi, realized that his goats, in addition to being more stubborn, stubborn and stubborn than usual, were also very nervous, they got upset over a trifle , they started with their heads down against anyone who approached them. Even in the herd a great unease reigned, marked by a continuous butting of horns. But what seemed even more serious to the shepherd was the fact that, when evening came, when he ran after the goats in the stables, the animals were always restless and didn’t rest. In the middle of the night everyone was still awake. 

Unable to understand the unusual phenomenon, the shepherd of the Ethiopian plateau turned to a monastery and explained the fact to a wise old monk, who asked if by chance the shepherd hadn’t changed pasture recently and if the goats hadn’t browsed some plant they weren’t used to.”

In one of the first versions of the legend, reported in Europe by Naironi in 1671, there is the theme of the initial rejection and condemnation of the new “drug” by the institutions in force at the time:

“Kaldi, noticing exciting effects on his flock which nibbled on the bright red berries of a shiny green shrub, he tried to chew the fruit himself. His excitement persuaded him to take the berries to an Islamic holy man in a monastery. But the religious condemned their use and threw them into the fire, from which a tempting aroma was released. The roasted beans were immediately snatched from the embers, crumbled and dissolved in hot water, to obtain the first cup of coffee”. 

From here everything was born: the steaming cup of drink came to life, from here we discovered the potential of this plant and its aromatic grains. From here ours and all the different traditions spread all over the world came to life.

Coffee in Ethiopia has always had a sacred meaning, becoming an integral and indispensable part of the economy, politics, rituals, language… in short, of the whole lifestyle of the country.

In fact, in addition to making up ⅔ of the state’s earnings, it has generated important and above all fascinating historical rites and ceremonies.

The coffee ceremony

The coffee ceremony in Ethiopia follows a precise ritual, giving great importance to conversation and human relationships.

It is performed three times a day, by the woman of the house in a white dress with colored edges, serving three rounds of coffee to each participant, and each round has its own meaning.

The beans are still roasted by hand, just like in the past, using a pan placed directly over a live fire, always kept moving by the same woman. After which the brown beans are ground and left to infuse in the traditional coffee pot.

Seeing coffee prepared in this way and with all this care, calm and attention is exciting and makes us understand how sometimes in our Italian culture we take it for granted and don’t pay the right attention to it during the tasting phase.

Bringing it back, on some special occasions, to a real ritual can make us experience the moment as something of pure taste, peace, tranquility and pleasure.

For this reason, for our Ethiopian Sidamo we recommend an extraction in a filter, Chemex or V60, to better enjoy this moment, and savor the flavor of the magical African land.

Area

Coffee in Ethiopia is truly considered a small great miracle of nature, as there are no large plantations in the area, but it is the result of the work of many small producers and local families who often directly cultivate the plants in their own “garden”. There are about 12 million of these small realities.

They are usually located in the following territories:

• Sidamo, from which region our single origin also comes, in the south of the state, which produces exceptional coffees with a marked acidity, including the regions of Yrgacheffe and Guji;
• Harrar, the driest and almost desert area of ​​the country, where one of the oldest varieties is grown: Ethiopian Harrar;
• Limu and Djimmah, the western area of ​​the country where the coffees processed with the washed method are called Limu and the natural ones instead Djimmah.

Coffee in Ethiopia grows between 1500 and 1800 meters above sea level, but sometimes even reaching 2200-2400 meters above sea level!

Since everything is very domestic, the farmers do not use chemicals or substances that are toxic to the environment, leaving the land pure and free to breathe, placing the coffee plants in the shade of other crops and tall trees.

All this makes Ethiopian coffees one of the finest in the world, with aromatic, intense and flawless beans.

On the palate it presents fresh and delicate aromas of citrus fruits, red fruits and flowers, together with more spicy notes, or hints of chocolate and dried fruit. The sweet notes are often traced back to honey and caramel. 

In short, wouldn’t you like to immediately try a steaming cup of Medium-Light Roasted Ethiopian Sidamo by Caffè Ernani?

Discover all the characteristics of this coffee in the product description and Enjoy!

Curiosity

Here are some Ethiopian proverbs or expressions about coffee:

“Buna dabo naw” or “Coffee is our bread!” used to remember the importance of this food in their lives;

“Buna teto” or “Drink coffee” used as if to say “Good luck” or “Everything will work out“.