An Eritrean coffee ceremony

Asme roasting coffee

For coffee lovers like myself I have just been to coffee heaven!

Last Thursday evening we went to Andrew’s favourite eaterie in Wau – an Eritrean restaurant called Asmara.  Asme the owner, invited us to take coffee with them on Sunday, so this morning we went  back to Asmara to take part in the Eritrean coffee ceremony.

Roasting the beans

 The whole process takes around an hour from selecting the beans to drinking the coffee. Asme took some beans and roasted them over a charcoal burner. This gives them a really good smoky flavour.

Sniffing the beans

 

Once they are well and truly cooked she passes them round for everyone to sniff! I guess this also allows them to cool down slightly before they are ground by hand in a pestle and mortar.

Grinding the beans

The ground, roasted beans are poured into the coffee pot, mixed with water and placed back on the charcoal burner to heat up. The cups, saucers and tea spoons are then washed in preparation for the coffee.

Brewing the coffee

Pouring the coffee

Asme took some of the hot charcoal from the burner and placed it in a small pot nearby. On to the hot coals she put spices and a chunk of incense. This filled the tent with a wonderful scented smoke.

Asme and Elaine

The coffee is poured into the cups through the scented smoke so it picks up some of the flavour. Back home I always say that I only drink fresh  coffee – well this is the freshest coffee I have ever tasted.

We shared the coffee with around a dozen Eritreans and had a really interesting morning. She does this every Sunday so I have booked my place for next week! Happy drinking xx