Historical description of the story of coffee beans in Ethiopia

Historical description of the story of coffee beans in Ethiopia

Ethiopians drink coffee from small 3-ounce earless cups. After the coffee powder boils for the first time in a pottery pot, the hostess pours the coffee into the cup and adds a spoonful of sugar. The coffee made in this way is very thick, and the coffee grounds are not filtered. Although most of them remain at the bottom of the cup, there is still powder suspended in the coffee. People who are not used to it will inevitably choke their mouths. The coffee in the pottery pot can be boiled two or three times. If the guest is served with coffee, the guest will usually leave after the coffee is boiled for the second time. In addition, Ethiopians like to make coffee with a small pancake with sweet chili peppers. Ethiopians use a special clay pot to make coffee, which is heated by hot coal before making coffee. When the pottery pot is heated, the hostess first cleans the coffee beans to remove the parchment-like endocarp and silver skin from the surface of the beans. Then, the hostess will add a little rosin to the fire, incense the whole room, then take out an iron pan shaped like a pan, put it on the fire, pour in the washed coffee beans and stir-fry with a shovel. After a few minutes, the coffee beans gradually show a light brown cinnamon color, followed by a crackling sound-usually divided into "one explosion" and "two explosions". Not long after the explosion, the coffee beans turn dark brown. At this time, the coffee beans are poured into a stone mortar, mashed with a pestle and ground into a powder as fine as possible. Grind the coffee powder, pour it into a warm clay pot, add spices such as cardamom and cinnamon, or add a herb called Adam's Health to boil together.

Getachew Mengistie, director of Ethiopia's Bureau of intellectual property, bluntly pointed out that farmers sell raw beans for $1.45 a pound, while Starbucks sells for $26 a pound in the United States, 18 times the price difference between the two places. The reason is that Ethiopia does not know how to use intellectual property rights to create value for farmers. As long as it has the name of Ethiopian boutique beans, it can be marketed in the United States at three times the price of ordinary commercial beans. You know, investing in baking, packaging and marketing equipment through downstream channels in the United States alone cannot create such a huge added value, because most of the value comes from the coffee producing area (if Starbucks is not branded as "Sidamo", you can't sell it at such a high price. He stressed: "Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and the famous producing areas of course have huge marketing value, but they are ignored by farmers. As a result, excess profits are finally earned by countries that know how to use the prestige of the place of origin to create value. It took no effort to earn it!