There is probably no place more associated with coffee than Ethiopia. This is the cradle of coffee, the place where Kaldi and his goats first tasted caffeine. Ethiopia gave the world Gesha. And 12 centuries after its original discovery, Ethiopia still grows some of the most sought-after coffees in the world.
The coffee ceremony in Ethiopia is almost as aged as coffee itself. Its origins date back to the 9th century and it has been a part of Ethiopian hospitality and culture for over 1,000 years. And now the country is trying to get it recognized by UNESCO.
As reported World of Coffeethe push for recognition takes place on Ethiopian Coffee Culture Day 2026. The event, which takes place in Addis Ababa, was created by Coffee news whose main goal was to include the Ethiopian coffee ceremony on the UNESCO list of abstract cultural heritage.
The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is traditionally performed by women who roast and grind coffee for guests, then brew it three times in a jebena. This service continues today, both domestically and around the world, with many Ethiopian-focused cafes and restaurants offering customers the opportunity to participate in the ceremony.
By achieving UNESCO Heritage status, Worka CEO and founder Seada Mustefa hopes to not only highlight the importance of the coffee ceremony, but further cement Ethiopia’s place in the global coffee network. It strives for coffee not to be an ordinary commodity, but a carrier of cultural significance.
If this ceremony is successful, the Ethiopian coffee ceremony will join Turkish coffee and be inscribed on the UNESCO list as Theoretical Cultural Heritage. In 2022, Italy attempted to recognize espresso, but this offer was never formalized, choosing instead to insist on opera, which was included on the list in 2023.
The entire approval process can take years, but it’s tough to imagine that an Ethiopian coffee ceremony won’t be a success. It is almost as aged as coffee itself, and perhaps more than any other preparation, it expresses the full history of the world’s most popular drink.
