Strong, unfiltered coffee brewed in a clay pot called a jebena and poured in a long, theatrical stream into tiny handleless cups. The beans are roasted fresh over coals, ground by hand, and served in three rounds amid wafting incense. It is the heart of Ethiopian hospitality, not merely a beverage.
Ethiopia is the ancestral homeland of coffee arabica, said to have been discovered in the forests of Kaffa, and the coffee ceremony grew into a daily ritual of community and welcome. Performed by the host over roasting coals and a jebena, the three rounds of abol, tona, and baraka can stretch for hours and bless the gathering.
Intense, full-bodied, and faintly smoky from the fresh charcoal roast, with bright winey acidity typical of Ethiopian beans. The unfiltered brew is thick on the palate and often taken without milk. Sipped slowly from a tiny cup, it is bracing yet aromatic.
Roasting fresh just before brewing maximizes volatile aromatics that dissipate quickly in pre-ground coffee. Repeated boiling in the jebena fully extracts the grounds, while the tall, narrow neck and pouring stream let sediment settle so the cups stay relatively clear.
Variations
Buna with salt (highland style), buna with niter kibbeh or butter, spiced with cardamom or rue (tena adam), accompanied by popcorn and kolo
On the Palate
Where Ethiopian Coffee Buna sits in the Ethiopian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 40 min active
- 112 min
Wash green coffee beans and roast them in a flat pan over coals until dark and glossy.
- 26 min
Waft the roasting smoke toward guests, then grind the hot beans finely by mortar and pestle.
- 33 min
Fill the clay jebena with water and bring it to a boil over the heat.
- 48 min
Add the ground coffee and let it boil up, then settle, repeating to build strength.
- 52 min
Burn frankincense alongside to perfume the air during brewing.
- 64 min
Pour in one continuous high stream into rows of small handleless cups, leaving grounds behind.
- 73 min
Serve the first and strongest round, abol, often with salt or sugar to taste.
- 82 min
Re-steep the grounds for the second (tona) and third (baraka) rounds.
