Ethiopia: Coffee on Lake Tana At the headwaters of the Nile River in North Ethiopia a little station quenches thirst and settles minds as the cool lake breeze puts visitors in a mood for coffee. No Folgers here, just real authentic coffee, ceremonial style as it should be. It begins with the roast from green to smoky café, something you don’t get in Seattle, to a combustion of frankincense before the hand ground beans get boiled in a traditional clay coffee pot over open fire. A face tattooed with holy insignias between her eyes stares with smiles and white teeth. Her coffee shop is tucked under a tree slurping its sustenance from lake Tana that shares its glory with not only hippos in the distance but the centuries of Egyptian kings who relied on it for the flooding of the river delta. “Amasagnalahu” bQ September 2, 2012 • by bransonquenzer
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