Where coffee began. Where ceremony matters. Where Almaz sings to her trees.
Ethiopia is where coffee's story begins—not as a commodity, but as a sacred ritual woven into daily life for over 800 years. In the Kaffa region, where Almaz tends her family's coffee trees, the connection between people and plants runs deeper than agriculture.
"The trees talk to us," Almaz explains, her hands gentle on ancient branches. "You just have to know how to listen."
The Ethiopian coffee ceremony isn't rushed. Three rounds, each with meaning. The first for the body, the second for the soul, the third for blessing. Selamawit performs this ritual every morning, continuing a tradition passed down through her grandmother's grandmother.
"When you drink coffee this way," she says, smoke from roasting beans curling around her, "you're not alone. You're connected to everyone who's ever shared this moment."
Almaz manages her cooperative with the same care she gives her coffee trees. Twenty families work together, sharing knowledge that's been refined over generations. When one family struggles, the others step in. When the harvest is good, everyone benefits.
This coffee carries their collective story—the morning songs, the careful picking, the traditional processing that honors both the beans and the land.
Every bag funds Alice & Nick's ongoing documentation work and supports Almaz's cooperative directly.
