Ethiopian brew
Why have a plain cup of joe when you can get your coffee with incense, music and an ancient coffee ceremony?
Sidamo, a little coffeehouse in Fulton, offers that every Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Green beans are roasted in a small pot, ground up and boiled before they're finally served.
"This is a very old, traditional coffee ceremony," said Kenfe Bellay, a native of Ethiopia who owns Sidamo with his wife, Yelmzwed. "Where we come from ... you don't drink it by yourself. You call your immediate neighbor."
Traditionally, the ceremony takes hours, which gives Ethiopian villagers the chance to swap news of hyena-sightings and sort out disputes among neighbors, Bellay said. Sidamo's version of the ceremony is condensed to 35 to 40 minutes to better suit Americans, who tend to be short on hyena news and more inclined to settle local disputes in court than over coffee.
Tony Glaros, a writer for the Columbia Flier chain, put me onto Sidamo. He's working on a column about the place and wanted to get the word out here, too.
"The place serves the best Ethiopian blends I've ever sampled, along with great tea and pastries," Glaros told me. He said the ceremony is "absolutely fascinating."
If that's not enough, he added: "The panini are also top-notch."
Sidamo is at 8180 Maple Lawn Avenue. (301) 483-3683
Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby
Comments
No hyena sightings, but I get a lot of local news while waiting in line at my coffee kiosk. Not so very different, except that I usually rush back to my desk.
Posted by: Dahlink | March 14, 2010 10:08 AM
3000 years? That must have been a tedious hyena-reporting ritual for the 2500 years they didn't have coffee.
Ha! I guess my source got a little carried away. Before posting, I should have brushed up on my coffee history: http://www.koffeekorner.com/koffeehistory.htm. LV
Posted by: javajoe | March 14, 2010 10:21 AM
The array of round cup rims, the round mouth of the ewer, and the coffee beans roasting in the center of the circle, all remind me that it's Pi Day!
Posted by: Leonora | March 14, 2010 10:44 AM
it is rather nice that pie is round
Posted by: zaius | March 14, 2010 10:57 AM
As mentioned last year here, Dukem on MD Ave does Coffee Ceremony Sundays
Posted by: chowsearch | March 14, 2010 1:02 PM
Elfegne Cafe in Pigtown has a ceremony as well.
http://elfegnecafe.wordpress.com/
Posted by: Meghan | March 15, 2010 1:50 PM
I thought Columbo discovered coffee from the Aztecs
Posted by: Lazania Prtiz | March 15, 2010 1:53 PM
Actually, coffee was first discovered in the kaffa region of Ethiopia(hence the name). An amazing variety of wild coffee can be found in the forests of Ethiopia,even some as yet untasted in the rest of the world.These coffees can only be found there. To the writer, thanks. Ethiopian coffee ceremonies have become the late sunday ritual of choice for my friends and I. It's great to see it catching on.
Posted by: Alison M | March 15, 2010 4:09 PM
so when was coffee first adopted as a beveridge?
Posted by: Lazania Ortiz | March 15, 2010 4:49 PM
To add more flavored to the history of coffee, it was first found by an Ethiopian shepherd at kaffa region. at that time his goats eat this wild coffee and react unusually and the shepherd test the coffee bean and gave him refreshment and from that time onwards Ethiopian merchants sold coffee to the Arab world and the Arab world introduce coffee to the rest of the world that is why the best coffee named after Arab ( Arabica coffee)_
Posted by: mesfin | March 16, 2010 4:42 AM
The Wanted Criminal
Mensur Nurhussen is
visiting your beautiful
country...
Catch him if you can....
=)
Posted by: ManHunter | March 17, 2010 3:18 PM
The hours spent for the traditional coffee ceremony shows clearly how time is valued there. There seems to be plenty of time to drink coffee and interact with the neighbors, shows strong social ties. Something scarce in the developed world.
Posted by: Ethiopian-Youtube guy | August 14, 2010 10:09 AM
The hours spent for the traditional coffee ceremony shows clearly how time is valued there. There seems to be plenty of time to drink coffee and interact with the neighbors, shows strong social ties. Something scarce in the developed world.
Posted by: Ethiopian-Youtube guy | August 14, 2010 10:13 AM