Boulder author Majka Burhardt discusses how coffee, Ethiopia entwined

By Laura Snider 

Daily Camera

October 10, 2011

Majka Burhardt was sipping a latte at a coffeehouse in Boulder in the summer of 2006, when she overheard a conversation at a nearby table.

The group was plotting a quest to the Horn of Africa to find a rare coffee that's valued at more than $100 a pound. A writer and adventurer herself, Burhardt's curiosity was immediately piqued. And just a few months later -- after asking if the group was in need of a journalist -- Burhardt left with the team as they headed for Ethiopia.

Majka Burhardt poses with her book Coffee Story: Ethiopia in the 

Ozo Coffee shop in Boulder where she will give a talk about her book on 

Tuesday Oct 11, 2011 evening. ( PAUL AIKEN via Daily Camera )

Ultimately, the expedition returned home without the coveted bean (the government was a bit concerned what their real motives were), but Burhardt was hooked, both on east Africa and on the mystique of the local coffee, which permeates the area's culture.

Since that trip, Burhardt has returned to Ethiopia and other east African nations a half dozen times, sometimes for months on end. This year, she published her second book about the region, "Coffee Story: Ethiopia." Tonight, Burhardt will discuss her book -- explaining how coffee helps tell Ethiopia's story -- at Ozo Coffee's downtown Boulder location.

"There are 10,000 different types of coffee in Ethiopia -- Colombia has six," Burhardt said. "You have this great diversity that's been preserved because Ethiopia didn't go through that industrialization process (of coffee)" that some countries in South America did.

A recent surge of interest in unique coffees -- amounting to a foodie-type revolution of coffee sippers -- may provide an opportunity for Ethiopia, which is now rich in coffee varieties but poor in economic development.

But even for those who aren't interested in the nuanced flavors of individual coffee varieties, people who want to understand Ethiopia should probably understand a little something about coffee. In Ethiopia, a family will often have their own distinctive coffee plants growing in their backyards, Burhardt said, and they'll stop to drink coffee several times a day in a ceremony that calls for brewing the grounds three separate times for three rounds of coffee drinks.

"Coffee has been consumed in legend in Ethiopia since the 10th century B.C.," Burhardt said.

Even the Queen of Sheba -- whose empire is thought to have been in Ethiopia or Yemen -- is thought to have drunk coffee, Burhardt said.

At tonight's event, Ozo will also be offering a tasting of at least two Ethiopian coffees and a Tanzanian coffee, said Justin Hartman, Ozo's owner. Hartman said Ethiopian coffees tend to have a complexity to them and a wine-like body that isn't often found in South and Central American coffees -- but the Ethiopian beans can be hard to get.

"It's not necessarily easy -- it's definitely a trick," he said. "But it's something we've been trying really hard to find, and we've sourced some great ones."

Part of Ozo Coffee's mission is to help local coffee drinkers discover the rich diversity that's available, Hartman said.

"We're really trying to educate the consumer about how fun coffee can be and how really drastically different the flavors can be," he said.

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Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or sniderl@dailycamera.com.