Heidi Tadesse

I am originally from Ethiopia. When I was younger my parents had a coffee tree in the back of the house. When ripe the coffee beans have a beautiful reddish color and a sweet taste. We would pick the beans and dry it in the sun (depending on the weather it could take weeks to dry). As the beans dried, the color and the size of the bean changes; they became smaller and darker. From a very young age I watched my mother preparing the coffee ceremony every day in the morning. She would invite all her neighbours and prepare little snacks. Everyone would talk about what had happened the night before and share their dreams. The ceremony lasts over two hours and can include a fortune-telling reading of the coffee grounds. The first time I roasted coffee I was 10 years. I was fascinated how the simplest thing (coffee) brought a big gathering in my mother's house every day.