Its rainy, and its cold, and what better way to feel cosy and warm than with a hot cup of freshly roasted and brewed coffee, all the way from Dodola, Ethiopia.
Yes, I said freshly roasted... if you love coffee, then you must try and get hold of some green beans and roast them at home. Having your whole kitchen fill up with coffee scented smoke is a near transcendent experience - seriously! We had brought some green beans back with us from our travels in December and after confirming that green beans can actually keep for quite some time, we got roasting.
We just used a heavy based pan on the gas stove, and as long as you keep the beans moving constantly - you should end up with a delectable end product. The whole roasting process is over quite fast, you will see the small green beans go from a light green, to a very light brown where the husks come off, to a light brown and then they just get darker and darker (this is where you have full control over what type of roast you would like), just make sure you don't go too dark and end up with little crunchy bits of charcoal with only a hint of coffee left - not so tasty!
Traditionally, the coffee is roasted over coals, then ground in a mortar and pestle and brewed in a coffee pot made of clay, the coffee granules settle to the bottom and then you drink from small handleless cups.
Drinking coffee in Ethiopia was one of our favourite things (and we did quite a lot of it too), it is incomparable with popping down to your local roastery and walking out 2 minutes later with cardboard cup in hand!
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