News Analysis | Mar 04,2023
Roasting beans crackled, and smoke curled inside the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum, on Eden St., when the second festival on the traditional coffee ceremony turned the Addis Abeba landmark into a living map of ritual.
Coffee here was more of a treat than a drink. Poured from clay "jebenas" into thimble-size cups, it mediates neighbourhood quarrels and seals business deals. Proponents of a holiday argue that an official date, like Japan’s Green Tea Day or Argentina’s Mate Day, would codify the social practice and attract tourists. Understandably, sceptics retort that symbolism alone will not fatten farmers’ wallets.
The festival, dubbed “Coffee for Peace,” cast the brew as a diplomatic asset. A panel of scholars, entrepreneurs and officials weighed coffee’s soft-power potential and the lattice of small enterprises, such as spice grinders, potters and roasters, largely run by women. One of these was Saada Juri, a volunteer who tended the coal stoves in embroidered cotton dresses. She is proud of the unique coffee culture across the country and hopes to gain international recognition for it.
Staged by Warka Coffee and the Culture & Arts Bureau of the Addis Abeba City Administration, the event doubled as a campaign. Organisers urged Parliament to declare a "National Coffee Culture Day" and paperwork is underway to nominate the ceremony to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage roster within two years.
The inaugural festival was held in 2023, but financing glitches postponed the sequel. Crowds returned undeterred. By mid-morning last week, the courtyard was shoulder-to-shoulder, queuing at 11 stands, each curated by a different community and its snacks, "buna kurs" in the local parlance. Those bites (bread, roasted grains, sweet potatoes and qolo) turn coffee into a drawn-out meal that forces conversation. Organisers reminded visitors that the snack was no garnish but an equal partner, balancing bitterness and sweetness while inviting hospitality.
Exhibitors from Afar Regional State opened with murfe flatbread and ginger-laced coffee. Arbaminch followed with sweet potatoes and "d'ata" bread served amid dance lessons. Raya displayed a tall-necked "Brele" beside mashela, popcorn and ambasha. Sidama offered kocho, while three zones from the Oromia Regional State (Arsi Negele, Shewa and Bale) poured beans from Jimma to show internal variety. Two mothers in bright yellow shawls ladled coffee with kolo. Exhibitors from the Benishangul-Gumuz State brewed a thick and spice-rich cup flavoured with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Those from the Amhara Regional State poured coffee as women spun cotton around platters of teresho flatbread, and the Gambella Regional State capped the circuit with "kewa," a roasted corn-peanut mix served beside a clay dake pot.
That mosaic underpins the UNESCO bid now in draft. According to the organisers, dossiers detailing history, regional variants, gender roles and the peacebuilding dimension will reach the Ministry of Culture later this year. The city Bureau has pledged logistical help, and Warka plans to bankroll part of the filing, but issues loom large.
Colombia’s coffee region and Turkey’s shadow-puppet theatre needed years of revisions before winning the seal. Organisers say the first Coffee Culture Day could debut in 2028, aligning with preparations for the next national census.
The state has economic motives. Coffee exports earned about 1.5 billion dollars last fiscal year, the country's top source of hard currency. Branding the ceremony abroad could lift premiums for speciality beans and lure visitors to farms that still rely on hand-picked harvests. Protected status might also curb what officials call “culture dilution,” as overseas cafés market Ethiopian rituals without investing in the source communities.
Draft bylaws circulating among scholars, business owners and elders would rotate the host city, cap sponsorship branding and set criteria for regional exhibits if Parliament adopts Coffee Culture Day. Backers pitch the holiday as a low-cost form of nation-building. However, critics warn that locking a living ritual into law risks turning it into a staged pageant.
International roasters already tout “Ethiopian Ceremony Sets,” and cafés from Seoul to Seattle charge extra for hand-poured flights. A UNESCO listing could curb imitations but also spark fights over intellectual property and who benefits from licensing fees.
By late afternoon, the Museum’s coal fires dimmed, yet visitors lingered for the third, sweetest pour known as "Bereka," literally “blessing.” Children chased one another between empty chairs while elders debated whose roast hit the perfect balance of acidity and smoke. The smell of beans drifted over the stone courtyard, carrying hints of ginger, cardamom and nostalgia.
Whether the proposal winds through Parliament or UNESCO first, the country that gave the world Coffea Arabica is pressing its case cup by cup. A certificate may someday define Ethiopia’s coffee ceremony, but nothing stops hosts from rinsing their "Jebenas," lighting fresh coals and inviting neighbours to talk, proving again that the country’s most famous export doubles as its most trusted bridge.
PUBLISHED ON
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