# Sudanese Jebena Coffee

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/sudanese-jebena/
Last updated: 2026-10-20

> Coffee beans are roasted almost black in a pan, then pounded in a wooden mortar with spices such as ginger and cardamom. The ground coffee is boiled in a clay pot called a jebena (jabana) over a charcoal stove, and poured into small cups through a plug of palm fibre in the spout. It's served in several rounds, often sweet.

## At a glance

- Ratio: 4 tbsp coffee to 4 cups water
- Grind: Fine
- Water temperature: Boiled
- Category: Boiled & Traditional (Boiled)
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Origin: Sudan
- Also known as: jabana, Sudanese coffee, Sudanese ginger coffee

## Steps

1. **Roast the beans**: Roast 4 tablespoons of green coffee beans in a dry pan over medium heat, turning them constantly, for about 10 minutes, until dark brown, almost black.
2. **Pound with spices**: Let them cool a little, then grind or pound them with 1 teaspoon of ground ginger and half a teaspoon of ground cardamom, plus a pinch of cloves or cinnamon if you like.
3. **Boil the water**: Bring 4 cups of water to the boil in a jebena or any heatproof pot.
4. **Add the coffee and boil again**: Stir in the coffee and spices and let it come back to the boil.
5. **Settle and pour through palm fibre**: Take it off the heat for a minute or two, then pour into small cups through a plug of palm fibre or a fine strainer in the spout. Sweeten to taste.

**Sudanese jebena coffee**, or ***jabana***, is coffee made the slow way, in front of the people who'll drink it: beans roasted **almost black** in a pan, **pounded with ginger and cardamom** in a wooden mortar, **boiled in a clay pot**, and poured into small cups through a **plug of palm fibre**. It's served in **rounds**, with incense, dates and conversation, at everything from weddings to funerals to an ordinary afternoon. The Sudanese cultural magazine Andariya calls it "a living cultural tradition and an element of intangible heritage". Here's how it's made and what it means.

## The short version

- **Roast dark, pound by hand**, with **ginger** and **cardamom**.
- **Boil in a clay jebena** over a small charcoal stove.
- **Strain through palm fibre** stuffed in the spout.
- **Serve in rounds**: Bikri, Tenni, then Baraka.
- **Spiced and often sweet**, unlike Ethiopia's plainer coffee.



## How is Sudanese jebena coffee made?

Andariya describes each stage of the home ritual, usually led by the women of the family:

1. **Roasting.** The beans are roasted slowly over a low flame in an aluminium or iron pan made for the job, until they're **dark brown, almost black**.
2. **Cooling.** They're tipped into a **woven palm-leaf tray** to cool.
3. **Pounding.** They're ground in a ***fondok***, a wooden mortar, the pestle beating out a rhythm.
4. **Heating.** Charcoal goes into a ***kanoun***, a small traditional stove, and the **jabana** or ***dalla*** pot goes on top.
5. **Boiling.** When the water boils, the coffee goes in with spices such as **ginger, cinnamon and cardamom**, and boils.
6. **Straining.** Pieces of **palm or doum-palm bark** are pushed into the mouth of the pot to hold back the grounds. This filter is called a ***musaffa***. The pot then rests on a ***wiqaya***, a colourful fabric or metal stand.

For a home recipe with quantities, **Afrifood Network** gives this version for four:

| Ingredient | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Green coffee beans (or freshly roasted beans) | 4 tablespoons |
| Ground ginger | 1 teaspoon |
| Ground cardamom | ½ teaspoon |
| Cloves or cinnamon (optional) | A pinch |
| Water | 4 cups |
| Sugar | To taste |

Roast the green beans in a dry pan for **around 10 minutes**, turning them constantly ("they go from properly roasted to burnt in under a minute"), grind them with the spices, stir them into the boiling water, bring it back to the boil, let it settle for a minute or two, then pour through palm fibre or a fine strainer.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with fine highlighted for Sudanese jebena coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#fine "Pounded by hand, jebena coffee ends up fine, and the palm fibre strains it.")

## How is it served?

In **three rounds**, Andariya says, with the pot going back on the fire between each:

| Round | Name |
| --- | --- |
| First | **Bikri**, the strongest |
| Second | **Tenni** |
| Third | **Baraka**, a gesture of contentment that closes the gathering |

Among the **Beja** of eastern Sudan, the last round is called **Khidr**, after the Prophet Al-Khidr. In Sufi gatherings, the names may be **Bikri, Tini and Talwa**. Family and friends sit in a small circle on ***banabir***, wooden stools woven with coloured rope, passing small cups, with **popcorn, dates** and sometimes nuts, while an incense burner smoulders in the middle.

Hospitality runs deep. If a guest arrives just after coffee has been made, Andariya says, a **fresh pot** is made for them, because a guest deserves their own coffee. Among the Beja, the pestle may even be struck in the morning when there are no beans in the house, so that the sound of coffee-making signals that the household isn't poor.

## How is it different from Ethiopian coffee?

Both use a clay **jebena**, and both roast and grind the beans in front of guests. The differences, according to Andariya:

- **Spices.** Sudanese coffee is usually spiced with **ginger, cardamom and cloves**; Ethiopian coffee tends to let the flavour of the beans come through.
- **Formality.** The Ethiopian [jebena buna](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/jebena-buna/) ceremony is more formal and structured. Sudanese coffee is more **spontaneous and intimate**, and gatherings can run for hours.

A University of Michigan archaeologist working at **El-Kurru** in northern Sudan wrote that the best cups of jebena they had were "spicy with ginger or cloves".

## Sudanese coffee today

Since the war began in **April 2023**, Sudan's coffee imports, much of them from **Uganda and Ethiopia**, have fallen sharply, Andariya reports. Many Sudanese now roast **date pits or wheat** to keep the ritual alive, and jabana is still prepared in **displacement camps**, "shared alongside stories of loss and resilience".

*General guidance only. Roasting coffee makes a lot of smoke, so ventilate the room, and take care with charcoal and boiling pots.*

## Sudanese jebena vs other methods

- **[Ethiopian jebena buna](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/jebena-buna/):** the formal coffee ceremony in the same clay pot.
- **[Eritrean coffee ceremony](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/eritrean-coffee-ceremony/):** another close neighbour's ritual.
- **[Kahawa chungu](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kahawa-chungu/):** the spiced coffee of the Swahili coast.
- **[Café Touba](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/cafe-touba/):** Senegal's spiced coffee.

Explore every boiled method in the [boiled chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/boiled/).

## FAQs

### What is a jebena?

A traditional clay coffee pot, used in both Sudan and Ethiopia, where the coffee is boiled. In Sudan the coffee itself is called jabana, after the pot.

### How is Sudanese coffee different from Ethiopian coffee?

Andariya explains that Sudanese coffee is usually spiced, with ginger, cardamom and cloves, while Ethiopian coffee tends to let the beans speak for themselves. The Sudanese ritual is also more relaxed and spontaneous than the formal Ethiopian buna ceremony.

### What are the rounds of Sudanese coffee called?

Coffee is served in three rounds, with the pot returned to the fire between them: Bikri, the strongest, then Tenni, then Baraka. Among the Beja of eastern Sudan the last round is called Khidr.

### What is the palm fibre for?

It's the filter. Pieces of palm or doum-palm bark, called a musaffa, are pushed into the mouth of the pot to hold back the coarse grounds as the coffee is poured.

### Has the war affected Sudanese coffee?

Yes. Andariya reports that coffee imports have fallen sharply since the conflict began in April 2023, and that some Sudanese now roast date pits or wheat to keep the ritual going.

## Sources

- [Jabana: a Sudanese memory that never grows cold](https://andariya.com/post/jabana-a-sudanese-memory-that-never-grows-cold-1)
- [Sudanese coffee](https://afrifoodnetwork.com/recipes/sudanese-coffee/)
- [El-Kurru blog 2013: food](https://prod.lsa.umich.edu/kelsey/research/current-field-projects/el-kurru--sudan/el-kurru-blog-2013/1-12-13--food-.html)