Ethiopian Jebena Buna

Jebena buna is the Ethiopian coffee ceremony: coffee made from scratch, in front of guests, and shared slowly. Green coffee is roasted in a pan, ground by hand, and boiled with water in a clay pot with a long neck, the jebena. It’s poured from a height into small cups, leaving the grounds behind, over three rounds, each weaker than the last: abol, tona and baraka. It usually takes an hour or more, and it’s as much about conversation and welcome as about coffee. Here’s how it works.

The short version

• Roasted, ground and brewed in front of the guests.
• A clay jebena, boiled over charcoal or a flame.
• The grounds settle in the jebena; some hosts also put a horsehair filter in the spout.
• Three rounds: abol, tona and baraka, from the same grounds.
• An hour or more, and it’s polite to stay for all three.
• Incense and snacks: often frankincense, with popcorn, peanuts or himbasha bread.

What happens in the coffee ceremony?

1. Setting the scene. Fresh grass is often spread on the floor and incense is burned. Snacks such as popcorn, peanuts or himbasha, a lightly sweet bread, are passed round.
2. Roasting. Green coffee beans are washed and roasted in a flat pan over coals or a flame, in front of everyone, until anywhere from medium brown to glossy and nearly black. The pan is often carried round so guests can take in the smoke.
3. Grinding. The roasted beans are ground by hand with a mortar and pestle, the mukecha and zenezena.
4. Brewing. Water is heated in the clay jebena, the ground coffee goes in, and it’s brought to the boil, then left so the grounds settle. In the household the MAA Digital Lab describes, the coffee is poured off into a decanter and back into the jebena and boiled again, twice, before serving.
5. Pouring. The coffee is poured from about a foot above the cups, in one continuous stream, into small handleless cups, the sini. The grounds stay in the jebena; some hosts put a horsehair filter in the spout, and Wikipedia notes that the coffee may be sieved.
6. Three rounds. More water is added to the same grounds for each round.

What are abol, tona and baraka?

Round	Name	Strength
First	Abol	Strongest
Second	Tona	Milder
Third	Baraka	Weakest; associated with blessing

Sources agree on the names and order, though they describe the strength of tona a little differently. Many hosts see baraka as the natural end of the visit, so if you can, stay for the third cup. In Tigrinya, the first two rounds are called awel and kale’i.

What do you need?

• Green coffee beans and a flat roasting pan
• A mortar and pestle
• A clay jebena and a heat source, traditionally charcoal
• Small handleless cups, the sini, on a tray
• Incense, often frankincense, and snacks such as popcorn
• Sugar, or salt or butter in some regions

Can you make jebena buna at home?

You can follow the same shape at home: roast or buy freshly roasted Ethiopian coffee, grind it fine, boil it with water in a jebena or a small pot, let it settle and pour it off the grounds, then add water for a second and third round. The traditional ceremony is unhurried: one Ethiopian coffee exporter puts the whole thing at 60 to 90 minutes.

What do Ethiopians add to their coffee?

Sugar is common. In some regions, salt or butter is added instead.

Is the ceremony also Eritrean?

Yes. A very similar ceremony is held in Eritrea, where the rounds are called awel, kale’i and baraka in Tigrinya; see the Eritrean coffee ceremony.

General guidance only. Roasting over open coals and boiling in clay involve open flames, smoke and very hot pots: keep the area ventilated, never leave a fire unattended, and handle the jebena with care.

Jebena buna vs other methods

• Turkish coffee: another unfiltered coffee, made in a cezve.
• Arabic coffee: light-roast coffee with cardamom, poured from a dallah.
• Yemeni qishr: a drink made from coffee husks.
• Kuti: Ethiopia’s coffee leaf tea.

Explore every boiled method in the boiled chapter.