The Christian Science Monitor had an article today about the trademarking of Ethiopian coffees. Ethiopia is "the birthplace of coffee" and we can vouch for the fact that they have some really good brews. They make it strong, almost like espresso, and put lots of sugar in it. Aaron kept trying to prove his manhood by taking it straight. They just thought he was crazy. The article's slideshow shows the traditional way of brewing coffee over coals, which we were treated to a couple times.
I bought coffee beans in Addis, including some from Harar, where Anna is from, which is considered some of the best coffee in the world. The beans I bought for about $6 a pound (is that right? 27 birr per 1/2 kilo, I think) would be sold in Starbucks for $20 a pound or more. Ah, the power of the dollar, but also the power of Starbucks to buy low and sell high. But Starbucks took a lot of flack for trying to block Ethiopia from trademarking its coffee "brands" from these certain regions, and the coffee growers won. Hopefully this will be good for the Ethiopian economy.
Anyone have a good source for reasonably priced fair trade Ethiopian coffee? I would like to get some from time to time, especially decaf if I can find it. I can't spend a lot, though, since we go through quite a bit. (Okay, is that an ironic statement considering my stated concern for how little the coffee farmers make? Yeah, hypocrisy. It's the American way.) Maybe we can drink less coffee if it's better coffee. But our Addis stash is nearly depleted!
More on coffee another day. I could use some now.
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4 comments:
Check out www.groundsforchange.com - it's not quite $6, but not over the top and for a good cause.
Found you through pacnwethiopianadoptions . . . anyways, there is a mom on adoptafrica who sells exclusively Ethiopian Coffee and a lot of the proceeds go to a charity. My hubby and I are working on a similar venture but with a wider variety of African coffee. We'll be ready to roll by Christmas. Anyhoo - her site is www.ethiopiasfinest.com
i like my coffee black. it's not a manliness issue. If I wanted something sweet, I'd eat candy.
We all know how manly I am. I know I'm a man, half a man, but still a man. I don't need to prove how half-manly I am with coffee.
We need more coffee.
Think Trader Joe's!
Of course, the charity one is pretty darn good. Too bad I don't like coffee . . .
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