Sidamo

I counted the brochures, articles and coffee packages that I have collected since 2001 - anything about coffee, and to my excitement, I have kept over 60 of these. (Is this passion and/or addiction?)

In that collection,there is one African ethnic-based brochure that always strikes my attention. It is from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Vermont. The brochure is about the special reserve coffee from the remote community of Shanta Golba in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia. It is the first time that I knew of the name Sidamo.

I went to Sidamo today, not the area in Ethiopia but the 14- month old Ethiopian Coffee house in the northeast area of Washington, DC. Sidamo is an up-and-coming unique coffee house. You can find its story from many publications in this area.

The Green Mountain brochure depicts both the geographical area where the coffee beans blossom and a drawing of the traditional way that villagers hand-roast and grind the bean in the morning, making a fresh strong cup for everyone. The coffee stimulates various exchanges of daily life - community check-ins about work, marriage, farming and everthing else. In that picture, an Ethiopian woman who wears a long, white traditional dress, sits on a low stool, roasting green coffee beans on a small ground-level stove. On her right -hand side, she also has a mortar and pestle to grind the roasted beans.

The description on the picture says, "Ethiopians use an elaborate coffee ceremony to welcome guests and show friendship and respect. The ceremony, which can last a few hours, begins with the careful washing of the coffee bean. The beans are then roasted over a stove until they are black, releasing a familiar aroma that mingles with ceremonial incense. In some parts of the country, this ceremony takes place three times a day and is the village's main social event."

This afternoon, I saw this coffee ceremony live in DC, and this felt really peaceful and relaxing, especially when the coffee beans released their aroma. The smell was strong and earthy.

People from all walks of life gathered at the coffee shop this afternoon. This ceremony in fact is fast becoming the village main social event here on this H street neighbourhood in northeast Washington, DC.

The coffee ceremony is performed at Sidamo every Sunday afternoon, as a treat for the city dwellers to appreciate the way things are practiced in the old days and for us to take a moment to celebrate the journey back to where coffee originated. A quote from the traditional Ethiopian blessing, "where there is coffee, may there be peace and prosperity," sums up my day neatly.

I brought home a pound of Ethiopian coffee beans and hope to continue exploring the coffee process as a way to connect with the world and stimulate my deep caffeine addiction. Everyday, I am growing and brewing my usual custom, yet trying to seek new customs to taste over, to smell over again.

TAN