Making Buna

Buna is Amharic for coffee. There are many steps to making it.

First you have the roasting.

Hey, look! I'm roasting!

But my mom (Etagu) was there to make sure I didn't burn anything.



Next, you have to grind the beans.



It is a killer on the arms. Walela had to help me. (Kalkidan is holding the flashlight.)



Then, you spoon the ground coffee into the jebona with a little bit of preheated water.



Swish it around.



If the fire gets low, fan it.



Then, you have to let the grinds settle. Remember to tip the jebona slightly -- that is very important.



Now pour it. Make sure to pour in a stream; it cools the buna off as well as lets the grinds sink to the bottom.



Did you see the stream? They told me I was gobez (clever).
The last step is the distribution of the buna. First cup goes to the father. (That's my dad, Tadese)



Then the mother.

And then, like the little red hen in Mother Goose, you can drink after you did all the work. (I didn't do all the work but shh, don't tell my teacher.)

Thankfully, I had people hovering over my shoulder making sure that I couldn't mess it up. And then, like an idiot, I offered to do the buna ceremony for a whole group of people. . . But again, I had people hovering over me and it went off without me burning the bejeesus out of the coffee beans.

There is a difference between making buna at home and having a full blown buna ceremony. Much of this difference has to do with incense. Alas, you will have to wait for a later post to learn more about the buna ceremony.