Instant Coffee it’s not!

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There is a major problem in Robe - it is not possible to buy ground coffee, which almost constitutes a state of emergency, in my opinion. Having spent much of Monday (a public holiday) searching the many shops in town, I finally realised that I would have to do it the Ethiopian way! Luckily, I have been to a couple of coffee ceremonies lately and took the opportunity to watch closely and ask questions.

So … this morning I went to the market, as usual on a Thursday, and managed to buy a roasting pan (I knew what to look for) and some coffee beans. As I have no idea how to tell good from bad, I bought from the same man as a local woman. Then, I failed on trying to buy something to grind the coffee beans in.

Luckily, after lunch, I had an Afaan Oromo lesson with Ahmad (usual times are Wednesday and Friday but I couldn’t make it yesterday) so I used the opportunity to learn some of the necessary vocabulary. Then, as I have finished teaching the Higher Diploma sessions that used to take place on a Thursday afternoon, I returned to the market. After all, this was my well being at stake.

Success! I managed to ask a few people, with my newly learnt Afaan Oromo sentence, where I could buy a pestle and mortar for coffee, and understood the answers. The Afaan Oromo for pestle and mortar is “muka-tuumaa bunaa fi mooyyee” (great words!). The whole lot cost me 8 birr - which is a good price and not a Farenji mark-up apparently! It did cause a small crowd to gather, as a Farenji buying such items is a novelty.

On getting home from work I set about using my new equipment. First the beans are washed and then roasted - which seemed to take a lot longer on my kerosene stove than I have observed, until they are dark brown. Then the beans are transferred to the “mooyyee” and bashed with the “muka-tuumaa”. I think my technique needs some improvement as I seemed to loose a fair number of coffee beans, and it was not exactly fine-ground! But, hopefully, at least I can have a coffee tomorrow morning.

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