Our trip to Ethiopia 2025

In December 2025, as we do every year, we traveled to Ethiopia to visit producers and strengthen our ties with those who make it possible for our coffees to arrive in perfect condition season after season. This year, our trip focused on the Jimma region in the southwest of the country, where the farmers with whom we have been building a very special relationship for years were waiting for us.

These trips not only serve to experience coffee firsthand, but also to hear the stories of those who grow it, better understand the processes, and continue strengthening the connection with the people behind each cup.

A deeply cultural ritual

On the first day, our friend, the producer Nesru Aba Nura, welcomed us with a coffee ceremony, and that's how we experienced this tradition.

The coffee ceremony is much more than preparing a beverage: it's a ritual deeply intertwined with the culture of each region and ethnic group in Ethiopia. Although it's called a ceremony, it's extremely common in everyday life, especially during visits and family gatherings.

Ethiopia is made up of a great diversity of ethnicities, and each region has its own way of preparing coffee. In some regions, the preparation resembles a Chai tea accompanies coffee with many local spices. In other regions, the whole coffee bean, including the pulp, is cooked with butter, fried, and finally eaten whole. In Oromos areas, such as Yirgacheffe, rue , an aromatic plant that imparts herbal notes to the coffee, is added.

The ceremony in Jimma

In Jimma, the region we visited this year, the ceremony is simpler and more direct. No herbs are added; the coffee is roasted to order, for about 15 minutes, over embers on a slightly indented metal griddle or comal. It is stirred constantly with a curved stick until it reaches the ideal point. Once roasted, the coffee is hand-ground with a mortar and pestle and brewed in a traditional pot called a jebena.

When the coffee reaches a boil, the grounds settle to the bottom and it is served in small, traditional cups. The result is a generally dark and intense coffee that reflects not only the quality of the bean, but also the care and dedication of those who cultivate it.

Experiencing this ceremony with Nesru and her community was a unique experience: a reminder that coffee is much more than a beverage. It's culture, tradition, and connection between people. And for us, every cup we serve at Right Side Coffee carries a bit of that ritual we witnessed in Jimma.