making music and coffee

a traditional coffee ceremony in malakia, dilling.

almost as soon as heidi and i had arrived in malakia, helawa, the woman who would put us up for the next few days, asked us if we'd like to share a cup of coffee or tea. coffee, we said, would be great.

in sudan, coffee is served strong and spiced with cinnamon and cardamon. grounds are cheap and easy to come by and a cup of coffee is just a boiling pot of water away. but in malakia, things, it seems, work a little bit differently.

after we'd decided on coffee, helawa went into her kitchen and came out with a small fire pit, a pestle and mortar and fresh beans and spices. she set about roasting the beans right in front of us and then grinding them with the spices. nearly an hour after her offer, she served us fresh coffee. the next day, she promised, we could do it again but she'd bring around the neighbors and her sisters.

that's exactly what happened. helawa and five other women gathered to perform a traditional coffee ceremony. they roasted the beans and ground them up and all the while they sang. have a listen to what making coffee in sudan sounds like:




the coffee is roasted over a coal fire. you have to keep the beans constantly moving or they'll burn.


once the beans are roasted, they're ground along with some traditional spices.


the pestle and mortar became the drum beat for the songs.


while the coffee is brewing, the women sing and the cups are clanked along to the beat.


the coffee is served in a traditional pot with bits of twigs that act as a filter for the grounds.


the children don't get to drink the coffee, but they do get in on the singing.