How does the Ethiopian and Eritrean coffee ceremony work?

Green coffee beans are washed and roasted in a flat pan over coals, and the roasting pan is carried around so guests can take in the smoke. The beans are ground by hand with a mortar and pestle, then brewed in a jebena — a round-bellied clay pot with a long neck — and poured from a height into small handleless cups called sini. Coffee is served in three rounds: abol (the first and strongest), tona (the second), and baraka (the third, meaning blessing). Incense is burned, fresh grass is often spread on the floor, and popcorn or roasted barley is served alongside. The ceremony takes one to two hours and is about the gathering as much as the coffee.

What is a habesha kemis?

The habesha kemis is the ankle-length white handwoven cotton dress worn by Eritrean and Ethiopian women for weddings, holidays and church. Its defining feature is the tibeb — a coloured woven border, often gold, green or red, running along the hem, cuffs and neckline. It is usually worn with a netela, a light sheer shawl draped over the shoulders or head.

A jebena is the traditional clay coffee pot of Ethiopia and Eritrea — round-bellied with a long narrow neck, a spout, and often a straw lid. Coffee is brought to the boil in it over coals and poured from a height into small cups, which helps aerate the coffee and settle the grounds. It is the central object of the coffee ceremony and a common symbol of Habesha hospitality.

Habesha · ሓበሻ

Habesha Culture & The Habesha Coloring Book

Name: The Habesha Coloring Book: 63 Illustrations of Ethiopian and Eritrean Life
Price: 13.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Mesmer
ISBN: 9798192636985

Sixty-three drawings of the world your family came from — the jebena on the coals, the kebero at a wedding, a boy and his donkey under an acacia. Below, a guide to the culture behind each one.

What does "Habesha" mean?

Habesha (ሓበሻ) refers to the peoples of the Eritrean and Ethiopian highlands — principally Tigrinya, Tigray and Amhara communities — and to the culture they share: the Ge'ez script, Orthodox Christian tradition, injera and the coffee ceremony, handwoven cotton dress, and highland music. The word derives from the Ge'ez ḥabaśā. Many in the diaspora use it as a shared identity spanning Eritrean and Ethiopian lines, though its exact scope is debated and some prefer their specific national or ethnic identity.

The coffee ceremony, step by step

Coffee originates in this region, and the ceremony — buna in Amharic, bun in Tigrinya — is its oldest ritual. It takes one to two hours, and it is about the gathering as much as the coffee.

1Wash and roast. Green beans are rinsed and roasted in a flat pan over coals until dark and glossy. The pan is carried around the room so everyone can take in the smoke.
2Grind. The roasted beans are crushed by hand with a wooden mortar and pestle — mukecha and zenezena.
3Brew in the jebena. The grounds go into a round-bellied clay pot with a long neck and are brought to the boil over coals.
4Pour from a height. Coffee is poured in a single unbroken stream into small handleless cups called sini — which aerates it and leaves the grounds behind in the pot.
5Three rounds. Abol (first and strongest), tona (second), and baraka (third, meaning "blessing"). Leaving before the third round is considered rude.

Incense is burned throughout, fresh grass is often spread on the floor, and popcorn (fendisha) or roasted barley (kolo) is served alongside.

Traditional dress — a glossary

Garment	Fidel	What it is
Habesha kemis	ሓበሻ ክዳን	Ankle-length white cotton dress worn by women, bordered with woven tibeb patterning.
Tibeb	ጥበብ	The coloured woven border — often gold, green or red — that runs along hems, cuffs and shawls.
Netela	ነጸላ	Light, sheer cotton shawl draped over the shoulders or head; worn daily and to church.
Gabi	ጋቢ	Thicker four-layer cotton wrap worn for warmth in the highlands, usually by men.
Kuta	ኩታ	Lighter mens wrap, plainer than the gabi and worn over a shirt and trousers.
Shamma	ሻማ	General term for the handwoven white cotton cloth these garments are made from.

Instruments of the highlands

Instrument	Fidel	Description
Kebero	ከበሮ	Double-headed conical drum, played with the hands at weddings and church services.
Masinko	መሲንቆ	Single-string bowed lute with a diamond-shaped soundbox; the instrument of travelling singers.
Washint	ዋሽንት	End-blown bamboo flute, traditionally played by shepherds in the highlands.
Krar	ክራር	Six-string bowl lyre, tuned pentatonically and used for secular songs.
Begena	በገና	Large ten-string lyre with a deep buzzing tone, played in Orthodox devotional music.

Why a coloring book

These are ordinary things — a grandmother braiding hair on a Saturday afternoon, a jebena on the coals, a procession leaving church. That is exactly why they matter. For families raising children far from home, a drawing you sit and colour together holds attention in a way a photograph does not.

Each of the 63 illustrations sits on its own page, so nothing is lost in the fold and nothing on the back gets ruined. Every drawing comes with a small coloured guide beside it — stay true to life, or choose your own palette.

Paperback · 72 pages · ISBN 979-8192636985

The Habesha Coloring Book

63 illustrations of Ethiopian and Eritrean life by Mesmer: the coffee ceremony from roasting to pouring · traditional dress, shawls and jewellery · the kebero, masinko and washint · Orthodox crosses, priests and processions · rock-hewn and thatched village churches · mesobs, jebenas, pottery and baskets · terraced fields, teff and sorghum · and highland wildlife from gelada baboons to dik-diks.

Also included: a colour test page, and space to write who the book belongs to and who gave it.

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Frequently asked

Is it for adults or children?

Both. Some pages are simple and open — the jebena, the pottery, the dresses. Others are detailed enough to keep an adult busy for an hour: interlaced crosses, woven baskets, embroidery borders. Grandparents and grandchildren often colour at the same table, which is rather the point.

Do I need to be good at coloring?

No. Start wherever you like. The coloured guide beside each drawing is there if you want to stay true to life, and ignorable if you would rather not.

Is it Ethiopian or Eritrean?

Both. The coffee ceremony, the handwoven cotton dress, the Orthodox tradition, the instruments and the highland landscape are shared across the Eritrean and Ethiopian highlands. Where a practice differs between the two, the drawings show what is common to both.

Does it teach Tigrinya or Amharic?

No — it is a cultural coloring book, not a language book. If you want to learn the language, start with the Tigrinya course or the Amharic alphabet guide.