Ethiopian Coffee

The first time I ever drank Ethiopian Coffee was about seven years ago. Surprisingly it was when I was living in Lancaster, PA.

There is the notion that Lancaster is strictly an Amish community. It is true we have restaurants catering to tourists by offering good old-fashioned stick to your ribs Lancaster County Pennsylvania Dutch cooking but there are many other types of eateries as well. There are plenty of Chinese restaurants and several very good sushi spots. We have good Mexican, French, barbecue joints and lots of craft brew pubs. Let me talk about the Ethiopian restaurant I discovered with my family.

In a small strip mall right on the edge of the city, we discovered a little hole-in-the-wall spot. It had a terrible entrance and was not appealing in any way. I had read an article by a newspaper journalist who wrote a small piece on this new eatery.

Upon entering the restaurant, we still were not sure it was the best decision. Mismatched tables and chairs, a very old tile floor and a big satellite TV playing an Ethiopian channel that was totally unintelligible to any of us. A very friendly gentleman greeted us and we got our table.

We got our menus but it was all foreign to us and we just had to wing our selections. Oh and another thing-no utensils. If you don’t know, Ethiopian food comes in a very large bowl with a spongy bread called injira that takes the place of a utensil. Everyone at the table shares the community bowl. Let’s just say, we fell in love with the food! What a beautiful marriage of flavors with most lighting up the palette. Good god, it was spicy, but oh so good. Every last morsel of the beef, lamb and various vegetables was gone. We wanted to continue this experience so our waiter the offered a suggestion… coffee.

I had never drunk a cup of “authentic” Ethiopian coffee. Oh sure, I have purchased a pound of what is labeled Ethiopian coffee in the store and brewed it in my drip coffee maker, but never considered what I had as anything special. I would stick with some of my preferred roasts. We were in for a coffee experience at a new level.

Our waiter brought out a Hario Syphon Coffee Pot, not a traditional Ethiopian clay jebena pot. None of us had ever seen a syphon pot so this was already interesting. We watched intently as he poured water into the lower round glass bowl and then topped it with what looked like a glass beaker. There was a cloth and metal filter held down by a chain and hook. Into that beaker went the coffee. Following this, an alcohol burner was lit under the glass bowl.

Our waiter informed us that Ethiopian coffee took time and to have patience. He was right. We didn’t seem to see anything happening as 15 minutes ticked by. All of a sudden, the coffee grounds started to get wet and then the water from the bowl drew up into the beaker with the coffee. The waiter was watching at a distance and immediately came over to remove the flame, which then caused the coffee to flow back down into the round bowl. It smelled fabulous!

Good Ethiopian coffee is a real treat and unlike any other coffee I had experienced. We drank the Longberry (Harar) coffee in small cups with a small bit of cream for those who preferred it that way. Harar coffee has a complex taste of fruit, spices and intense coffee. It is not the kind of coffee you could drink each morning to start your day. This coffee was best served after a great dinner when it could be slowly savored. We decided to buy our own syphon coffee pot from the restaurant, which was also a grocery store. Of course, we also went home with a pound of the Harar as well as Yirgacheffe. Our waiter explained that it might take a few tries to get the procedure down and to let him know how we made out when we next dined there.

Several days later, it was time to try my hand at the syphon coffee pot. I went with the Harar coffee since I so enjoyed it at the restaurant. I got the hang of putting my new pot together, filled the chamber with coffee, the bowl with water and got the alcohol burner filled and lit. What was I doing wrong? Fifteen minutes went by, then twenty, then a half hour with nothing happening. I double-checked all my steps. Everything was correct as far as I could tell. I turned the flame up, but all that did was make a black mess on the bottom of the glass bowl. My hopes for that delicious cup of Harar coffee were quickly slipping away. I gave up and wasn’t sure I even wanted to try this again. What a waste of money I thought.

Several weeks went by and I decided to give my syphon pot another try. I got on the Internet to look at instructions for brewing with this type of vessel so I could see if I missed anything. Much to my surprise, I did make a big mistake! The alcohol I had used was only 50% and I needed a higher percentage. Wow! A quick run to CVS and I was back home with 91%. Now my hopes were high that I could successfully brew my Ethiopian coffee. Within 15 minutes, I brewed my first syphon pot of coffee and boy was it worth it.

If you are like me and love different blends of coffee along with using different brewing techniques, you have to try a syphon pot. It’s fun to use and can impress your family and friends. Just don’t forget to use the right percentage of rubbing alcohol. Here is my suggestion for perfect authentic Ethiopian coffee.

The Recipe

This recipe will vary depending on the size of syphon coffee maker.

6 tablespoons semi-coarse Ethiopian Harar coffee (Koffee Kult is the best I’ve had)

1. Fill bottom bulb to the #5 marking with filtered water.
2. Apply heat source beneath. Butane or candle will do.
3. While water is heating, tug the chain on the top beaker to set the filter.
4. Add coffee to the top beaker.
5. Secure the coffee filled beaker to water​-filled bulb.
6. Wait patiently. As water begins to boil it was transfer from the bottom to top and saturate the grinds.
7. Once all the water has transfer to the top, remove heat source. It’s okay if there’s a bit of water left in the bulb.
8. Coffee will begin to draw back into the bulb.
9. Served in tea cups.

Until next time, enjoy a good cup of coffee!

Originally posted on The Coffee Recipe owned and operated by Robb Myers.

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