Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, is Asia's leading exporter of Arabica coffee beans.

Various forms of coffee cultivation can be found in Ethiopia: everything from wild coffee forests and semi-developed land to traditionally operated plots to modern plantations. About 50% of the coffee is grown more than 1500 meters above sea level.

Harrar coffee is the highest growing area of all coffee in Ethiopia. Hara coffee can be divided into long coffee beans and short coffee beans, of which long coffee beans are the most popular. It has a soft taste, with wild flavor of wine, and slightly sour taste, unforgettable after drinking. Djimmah Coffee is wild at an altitude of more than 1200 meters and is sold under two brands: Limu Coffee and Babeka Coffee. Other coffee names include Sidamo coffee from central China, which is sold under the brand name Yirgachaffe, and coffee from Lekempti, which has a unique flavor. Jima and Cedamo beans have an unpleasant appearance but a good taste.

One of the rarest Ethiopian coffee beans on the market is Ilgachafi, which is exported to Japan and Europe but is rarely seen in the United States. This is because Dallmeyer, the German coffee roaster owned by Nestl é, has established close ties with the growers of Ilgachafi coffee, thus obtaining the largest single supply of the coffee beans.

The flavor of Ethiopian coffee is difficult to describe. It is neither strong nor sour. Therefore, it is not suitable for deep baking, otherwise it will easily lose its characteristics.

In terms of characteristics, Ethiopian coffee is somewhat similar to the famous mocha coffee. Of course, high-quality Ethiopian coffee can be compared with the best coffee from all over the world, including its considerable price.

Ethiopia has the highest domestic consumption of coffee in Africa. In the countryside, it is often drunk with a vanilla called Health of Adam: the new coffee beans are roasted and mashed with the vanilla, then mixed and drunk in a small teacup, which is often served with pancakes to extract the sweet pepper flavor from the pancakes.

The coffee industry is managed by the Ethiopian Coffee Company (the Ethiopian Coffee Marketing Corporation, or ECMC), which controls 90 per cent of the export market. It is possible that control of Ethiopian coffee companies is about to be relaxed to give greater local power, a move that will benefit the coffee industry as a whole, especially individual businessmen. Ethiopian coffee is sold at daily auctions, mostly exported to Germany, the United States, France and Japan.