Join us for a ceremonial brew of Ethiopian coffee this Sunday
Sun, Oct 08
|Melkadbar
At melkadbar we gather around coffee in the name of community, not caffeine. Conversation and African desert blues permeate through the lingering aromas of coffee, tena adam, and qetema. The etan dances exposing sun beams streaking across the space. We sit in a circle, we drink from a circle...
Time & Location
Oct 08, 2023, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Melkadbar, 2606 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
STEEPED IN ANCIENT TRADITION
STEEPED IN ANCIENT TRADITION
It's been said that humans first "woke up" to the effects of coffee beans in southwestern region in Ethiopia around AD 800. That's a relationship spanning 1200 or more making Ethiopian coffee beans the G.O.A.T. Speaking of goat, traditional accounts say, an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi was the first to get strange ideas about coffee beans when he noticed his goats acting erratically after eating berries from a tree. He of course sampled them himself and also shared the raw beans with monks. Though skeptical at first, the monks inadvertently introduced roasting and where captivated by the aroma and the bean's ability to help them stay awake during nightly devotions and prayers. Over the centuries, coffee brewing in Ethiopia has evolved into full-on ceremonies led by the matriarch of the household or trusted assistants.