drink Ethiopian coffee! (great coffee that doesn't taste bitter!)

This little plant can grow up to 10 meters tall!

What is so special about Ethiopian Coffee? Ethiopian coffee is considered to be some of the best in the world, due to it's high altitude growing conditions and the ways that the beans can be processed.

The coffee plant averages from 5-10 meters in height and is grown in rows, several feet apart.  Heavy rain is needed as the fruit is developing, and less later as it ripens.  The harvesting period can be anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months, and in some places continuing all year round.

---

The coffee bean is a seed of the coffee plant and is the source of coffee.  It is the pit inside the red fruit, often referred to as a cherry.  The cherries began as green, turn yellow, and finally red in color. 

Sorting coffee beans in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, the birthplace of Arabica coffee, is the world's seventh largest producer of coffee. Surprisingly, half the coffee produced there is consumed by the Ethiopians themselves!  Coffee is important to the Ethiopian economy as 15 million Ethiopians rely on some aspect of  coffee production for their livelihood. 

​There are 2 ways that Ethiopian coffee is processed to enhance it's flavor...….
Sun-dried: where the cherry is sun-dried around the coffee bean before being removed 
Washed:  where the fruit is removed from the bean within 12 hours of picking
​
So, support Ethiopian coffee.  Buy it; drink it; and be part of a rich history of tradition!

Buna Dabo Naw: Our coffee is our bread