# Kuti (Coffee Leaf Tea) Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kuti-coffee-leaf-tea/ Last updated: 2026-10-19 > Kuti is coffee leaf tea from Ethiopia: a drink made by boiling the dried, often roasted, leaves of the coffee plant rather than its beans. It has long been an everyday drink in Harar, where the beans were traded and saved for ceremonies. The leaves are boiled in water, sometimes for half an hour or more, with a pinch of salt, and sugar is added to serve. ## At a glance - Category: Boiled & Traditional (Immersion) - Difficulty: Beginner - Origin: Ethiopia - Also known as: coffee leaf tea, coffee-leaf tea, kuti, coffee leaf infusion ## Steps 1. **Water in a pot**: Bring water to the boil in a pot, with a pinch of salt if you like. 2. **Add the leaves**: Add the dried, often roasted, coffee leaves to the boiling water. 3. **Boil**: Let it boil, for half an hour or more in the Harari tradition, which is believed to reduce bitterness. 4. **Strain and serve**: Strain out the leaves and serve hot, sweetened with sugar if you like. **Kuti** is **coffee leaf tea**: a drink made not from the coffee bean but from the **leaves** of the coffee plant. In the city of **Harar**, in eastern Ethiopia, it has been an everyday drink for centuries. Harar was a hub of the coffee trade, and the **beans were valuable**, kept for trade and for ceremonies, so the **leaves** became the drink of the household. Some Harari homes even had rooms set aside for storing them. Here's how it's made. ## The short version - **Made from coffee leaves**, not the beans. - **Boiled**, traditionally for half an hour or more. - **A pinch of salt** in the pot, **sugar** to serve. - **Tastes like tea**, not coffee. - **A Harari tradition** in eastern Ethiopia. ## How is kuti made? 1. **Bring water to the boil**, with a **pinch of salt** if you like. 2. **Add the dried coffee leaves.** Wikipedia says the leaves are roasted before brewing. 3. **Boil them** for a long time: SBS describes **at least half an hour**, as longer boiling is **believed to reduce bitterness**. 4. **Strain** and serve hot, with **sugar** to taste. Brew mode on this page times a half-hour boil for you. ## What does coffee leaf tea taste like? More like **tea** than coffee. One producer describes it as like an **earthy green tea, but sweeter**; another source says it's closer to **black tea**. It has none of the roasted bitterness of coffee. ## Does it have caffeine? **Some.** Sellers say it has **less caffeine than coffee**, and one claims less than green tea and high levels of antioxidants. Those claims come from sellers and haven't been independently checked, so treat them with caution. ## A short history of kuti Wikipedia notes that coffee-leaf tea has been drunk in Ethiopia for **hundreds of years**. **Harar** was a major trading city, and coffee was a prized commodity there from the late 16th to the 19th century. With the beans kept for **trade and ceremonies**, the **leaves** became the Harari people's everyday drink, and SBS notes, citing Jeff Koehler's book *Where the Wild Coffee Grows*, that in Harar even **children under twelve** drink kuti. A similar tradition grew up in **West Sumatra**, where the brew is called **kawa daun**. Today, producers elsewhere make coffee leaf tea too, such as **Satemwa Estate in Malawi**, from **pruned shoots** that would otherwise be wasted: every eight years, Rare Tea Company explains, the coffee plants are cut back to the stump, the two strongest new shoots are kept and the rest are pruned and made into tea. In **2020**, the EU authorised infusion from coffee leaves as a **traditional food** from outside the EU, opening the European market to it. ## Can you make it at home? Yes. Dried coffee leaves are sold by some tea merchants, such as the **Malawi coffee leaf** from Rare Tea Company. For a Harari-style cup, boil them for a long time as above. For a lighter drink, steep them like an ordinary tea: Rare Tea Company suggests water at **100°C** for **2 minutes**, tasting as you go. ## Kuti vs other drinks from the coffee plant | | Kuti | [Yemeni qishr](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/yemeni-qishr/) | Coffee | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Made from | Leaves | Dried cherry husks | Roasted beans | | Taste | Tea-like, earthy | Fruity, spiced with ginger | Roasted, bitter-sweet | | Caffeine | Lower | Lower | Higher | | Where | Harar, Ethiopia | Yemen | Everywhere | *General guidance only. Use coffee leaves sold for drinking, from a reputable supplier, and take care with boiling water.* ## Kuti vs other methods - **[Ethiopian jebena buna](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/jebena-buna/):** the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. - **[Yemeni qishr](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/yemeni-qishr/):** a drink made from coffee husks. - **[Arabic coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/arabic-qahwa/):** light-roast coffee with cardamom. - **[Turkish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/turkish-coffee/):** powder-fine coffee from the Ottoman tradition. Explore every boiled method in the [boiled chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/boiled/). ## FAQs ### Is coffee leaf tea made from coffee beans? No. It's made from the leaves of the coffee plant. The beans, which grow in the coffee cherry, aren't used. ### What does coffee leaf tea taste like? More like tea than coffee. One producer likens it to an earthy green tea but sweeter; another source says it's closer to black tea. ### Does coffee leaf tea have caffeine? Some. Sellers say it has less caffeine than coffee, and one claims less than green tea, but treat sellers' figures with caution. ### Why do Hararis drink coffee leaves? Harar was a centre of the coffee trade, and the beans were valuable, kept for trade and for ceremonies. The leaves became the everyday household drink. ### Where else is coffee leaf tea made? Producers elsewhere make it too, for example from pruned shoots at Satemwa Estate in Malawi, which uses leaves that might otherwise be wasted. ## Sources - [Coffee-leaf tea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee-leaf_tea) - [Are we ready for tea made from coffee leaves?](https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/are-we-ready-for-tea-made-from-coffee-leaves/d5zdxnuli) - [Malawi coffee leaf](https://rareteacompany.com/en-ie/products/malawi-coffee-leaf) - [Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/917](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2020/917/contents)