How to Make Ethiopian Coffee (Buna)

Ethiopian Christmas, called Gena in Amharic, is a day of festivity. On this day Christians from all denomination gather to celebrate and eat together. On this day a country that is politically and ethnically divided comes together. Drinking coffee— or Buna as is called in Amharic— is customary during Christmas. However, people also drink coffee in special gatherings and birthdays. Ethiopians usually drink coffee with a side of roasted grain mix snack called Kolo.

Ingredients

Gebena (An Ethiopian pot for brewing coffee)
6 Ceni (Ethiopian small cups)
2 cups of water
Ethiopian Coffee roasting pan (can order online or can just use a regular pan)
Coffee grinder
2/3 cup of green beans (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe used here)
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Roasting the Coffee

1
Open windows/door. You don’t want to trigger the smoke detector.
2
Clean coffee grinder, ceni, and the roasting pan. Any left over flavor from other foods will change the taste of the coffee.

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3
Wash the green coffee beans 3 times with water.
4
Turn on the stove top and set it to medium.
5
Place the washed coffee beans on the coffee pan and start.
6
Continuously move your hand back and forth while holding the pan for 10 minutes. You want to make sure all the beans are roasted equally.
- Never leave the coffee on the oven top while the gas is still on. The coffee beans will get burnt, and the taste of the coffee will be bitter.
7
When all of the coffee beans have turned dark golden brown, take them off the stovetop.
8
Take the pan to everyone in the house so that they can smell the sweet smell of roasted coffee beans. This is customary in Ethiopian culture.
9
Place the pan with the roasted coffee beans in a place where it can cool at room temperature (takes~5 minutes).

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Brewing the Coffee

1
Grind the roasted coffee beans using the coffee grinder.
2
Pour 2 cups of water into the gebena.
3
Add the grinded coffee into the gebena.
4
Set the stovetop to medium heat.
5
Let the gebena sit on the stove for 10 minutes.
6
Turn off the gas as the coffee rises above the top of the gebena.
7
Place the gebena slanted, so the grounded coffee can settle down into the bottom layer.
- Be careful not to move the gebena once placed; moving can cause the bottom layer of grounded coffee to be mixed with the top layer of your coffee.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Serving the Coffee

1
Place the cines on a serving board.
2
Pour the coffee from the gebena into the cines. Serve them to your friends and family.
3
Add sugar or salt to their coffee, based on your preference.

Community Q&A

Question

What is gebena in English?

Community Answer

There isn't a specific English word to refer to the Ethiopian coffee-brewing jug, but you could refer to it as a coffeepot.