Metasebia Yoseph, founder of A Culture of Coffee (Photo: (Delece Smith-Barrow)
By Delece Smith-Barrow
For the millions of Americans who drink coffee every day, grabbing a cup is usually a simple affair. But for the 200,000 Ethiopians who make the Washington area home, coffee is more than just a morning or afternoon pick-me-up: In their homeland, drinking coffee is close to a sacred ritual.Hoping to explain to Americans how important the coffee-drinking experience is for Ethiopians, local writer Metasebia Yoseph is working on a book titled “From Ethiopia with Love,†which will introduce the warm, family-oriented ceremony that traditionally goes into making, serving and enjoying of coffee in that country.Yoseph, who is a director for the Ethiopian Cultural Development Corp., a nonprofit organization, is embarking on a three-month journey through Ethiopia to research its coffee-producing regions. She is the creator of cultureofcoffee.com, part blog, part funding engine for her research.In her eyes, coffee is a cultural good, and as Ethiopia becomes more westernized, and the habit of rushing to get and drink coffee becomes more prevalent, the ceremony becomes more special, more sacred. Read more
