... ETHIOPIA!

CoffeeClick takes a trip to the absolute "Must See" when talking about coffee countries. Here lies the origin of the product as well as where we find the oldest existing wild coffee plant.
Therefore, we take you to Ethiopia.

Via Addis Ababa, we make the incredibly impressive journey to the "Mother Coffee Tree." This is the oldest, still blooming coffee tree in the ancient Manrika Forest, Central Africa. This place is known worldwide as the ancient coffee forest of Ethiopia, centrally located in the Kaffa Region.

You can't get closer to the origins of our delicious coffee!

We are curious and take you on a journey

TASTING SESSION AND COFFEE PLANTATION JIMMA

The first morning in Addis Ababa we are picked up, after a dip in the exciting local nightlife and by cab we go to the airport for departure on the 10:05 am flight to Jimma. This is: one of the famous coffee cities in Ethiopia. Here we are invited for a tasting session at the local trading authority of Jimma.

The coffee plantation with the beautiful name "Diamond Enterprise PLC" is our destination. After a two-hour car ride through the breathtaking interior, we are welcomed by the owner. Dehab Mesfin welcomes us to her estate where we are immediately confronted with the ancient customs of African coffee culture. Here she tells us all about the history of the area and the significance and use of honey and herbs in local coffee production.

In the afternoon we visit her coffee plantation (original Kaffa coffee) in the middle of the pristine jungle and are treated to a traditional Cupping session.
It is especially special to witness how coffee is prepared here without professional tools and a delicious coffee is presented with pure handiwork! Meanwhile, we fully enjoy the beautiful surroundings. With colors and scents that you only encounter here, deep in Africa.

A disappointing weather forecast causes us to leave a little earlier than planned in the direction of Bonga. Over dirt roads and past numerous picturesque settlements toward the place where Africa is at its purest in the heart of the Kaffa region....

THE STORY OF COFFEE AND THE ORIGINS OF ARABICA: THE BONGA FOREST RESERVE:

Bonga is a place name rarely encountered when visiting Ethiopia. However, this town deserves to be better known for its beautiful nature and its melting pot of customs and beliefs. Pure Africa with a central market square where the mosque and church fit fraternally together in the streetscape. The central market is nothing more than a meadow full of homemade wooden tents on which merchandise is displayed. People and animals walk around here together in an especially infectious harmony. Today, this small town is deeply tucked away in southwestern Ethiopia. Quietly located in the pristine subtropical cloud forests filled with coffee trees, wild honey cultures, natural wonders and, above all, lots of wildlife.

The Bonga Forest Reserve, which covers some 500 square kilometers, is one of the last remaining subtropical humid forests of any significant size in Ethiopia. The altitude is perfect for coffee, which grows best between 900 and 1,800 meters (2,950 to 5,900 feet). The shade from trees causes the beans to grow more slowly, making them denser and more flavorful. It also keeps coffee bushes shorter, making the berries easier for locals to pick.
Bonga is said to be the birthplace of Arabica coffee. These Arabica coffee beans form the basis of many of our blends.
Despite the booming world market of this caffeine-containing beverage that is so important to us, this billion-dollar industry has bypassed Bonga. Bizarre but true...

THE EPIC COFFEE CENTER

The term coffee is derived from Kaffa, the ancient name for the part of today's southwestern agricultural areas and the state in which Bonga is located.

During the early morning in Bonga, you will find the slopes of the city shrouded in low-lying clouds caused by the characteristic high moisture content of the air.

Today our guide takes us to the heart of coffee's origins; the epic coffee center of Ethiopia.
Deep in the African jungle, coffee plants growing wild are hidden among vast tropical forests set on numerous mountain peaks with the gorges and rivers that are so typical. This is where coffee and Kaldi, the world-famous goatherd, originally came from. The story goes that sometime around the sixth century in these forests near Bonga, a goatherd named Kaldi saw his animals become merry after eating red berries from a bush he had never seen before. Kaldi tried the berries himself and the coffee bean was discovered. And we go fourteen hundred years after that to this, for coffee connoisseurs, very special and above all interesting place!

'MOTHER COFFEE TREE'

We spend the night in a mostly simple Bed & Breakfast where running water, due to tremendous scarcity, is not part of the standard equipment.
You shower here by pouring a jug of water over your head, after first being woken at five in the morning by the Imam of the local mosque, who sings the morning prayer over the deserted streets. After a simple breakfast of fresh, very strong local Arabica coffee, this morning we visit our main destination of this trip: the Mankira forest.

A pure place of pilgrimage for coffee sympathizers from all over the world.
Here you will find the oldest wild coffee tree in the world. This overgrown coffee plant has been standing in the middle of the Kaffa jungle for more than 450 years(!).
After a several-hour hike guided by local villagers through the impenetrable jungle where animals like wild lions, leopards, hippos, buffaloes and antelopes roam, we see it standing....
Standing proudly among the wild trees, on the steep mountainside, is the oldest coffee tree in the world.
Also called "Mother Coffee Tree" by the local natives.

It ended up being our ultimate travel destination: a coffee tree as tall as 15 meters with a trunk 30 cm. in diameter.
Incredible that so many travel here to experience the absolute origins of coffee.

Sensation Pur Sang!

As a memento, we take only one Manrika coffee berry with us to Amsterdam. This now lies as a memento in a bell jar. So we can tell this beautiful story of a unique journey to our friends, customers and visitors. In CoffeeClick's showroom, we are happy to show much more about the origin of our coffee, the backgrounds and secrets of global coffee culture and, of course, the sensational photos that go with it!

MK/CoffeeClick, May 29, 2019.