Behind the Scenes of the Film — "Ethiopia: The Cradle of Coffee"

The propeller plane lifted off from Addis Ababa and turned south, its engines shuddering in the thin air. Far below, the city’s patchwork of tin roofs gave way to endless eucalyptus groves, then to the vast sweep of the Rift Valley. A fellow passenger leaned across the aisle, smiling as though sharing a secret.

 

“You are going to my home,” he said, “You are going to love it. Sidama is paradise on Earth.”

 

Through the small window, the valley spread wide and ancient. Lakes caught the morning light, shimmering like glass, and ridges folded into one another, resembling monolith ochre waves frozen in time.

 

The descent into Hawassa Airport was sudden. A small strip of tarmac pressed between its namesake, the famous lake, and the surrounding hills. Fishermen balanced on narrow reed boats, nets flashing silver, while children waved at the fence as the wheels touched down. This is Sidama, one of the world’s most famed coffee-growing regions. And the destination for the next week, where we would be making the first film in a new series about the origin of the world’s most storied coffees: Bacha Coffee — Journeys to the Source. Welcome to Chapter 1: Ethiopia: The Cradle of Coffee.

Introduction to the Cradle of Coffee

Coffee is more than a commodity in Ethiopia. It’s a way of life. After all, the story of coffee began somewhere in this landscape. According to legend, in the 9th Century, in the highland forests of Kaffa, a goatherder named Kaldi observed his animals becoming restless after consuming strange red cherries on a wild tree. The goats leapt and danced all night, unable to sleep, so the legend goes. Intrigued, Kaldi sampled the fruit himself, and thus coffee and its magical properties entered human history.

 

Today, coffee is one of the world’s great rituals. After water and tea, it’s the most consumed drink on the planet, billions of cups brewed each day. Yet its roots lie here, in these highlands, where the first beans were gathered and boiled. And today, coffee continues to grow on slopes much like those where Kaldi’s goats once wandered.

 

Passing through villages and along roadsides, we see women crouching over coals, stirring beans, which hiss and crack in iron pans. Sweet smoke of roasted beans curls into the air, mixing with the sharp tang of frankincense. Children gather at the doorways and wave as we pass by.

 

Inside homes, at rest stops, and roadside local cafes, the ceremony of coffee is celebrated by all. We sit together with our hosts on low stools, time slowing to the rhythm of pouring and sipping, the pauses between words, and the laughter that carries through the room. Coffee here is consumed in company. A gesture between friends and family. Each round is a gathering, a reaffirmation of ties between neighbours, friends, and strangers in this beautiful country.

 

We drive deeper into the heart of Sidama, one of Ethiopia’s largest coffee regions, known worldwide for its highland Arabica. Coffee is the backbone of the local economy, the work that sustains most households. Fields of enset — the “false banana” that feeds much of southern Ethiopia — grow alongside maize, barley, and wheat. Livestock graze the hillsides, but it is coffee that carries Sidama’s name far beyond its borders.

Sidama: A Paradise on Earth

We had been on the road for five hours, bumping along unfinished highways and roads in our 4x4 that led away from Hawassa, deeper into the heart of Sidama’s mountainous terrain.

 

The road wound higher up onto the Sidama plateau. Rain swept across the fields in sudden bursts, then cleared to skies of impossible blue. Hills rolled away in layers, veiled in mist, while the red earth carried the tang of iron and water as we sped deeper into coffee country.

 

Coffee trees thrive in this climate. Their branches teem with red cherries that gleam like precious jewels against the verdant, mountainous landscape. Farmers move deliberately between the rows, baskets slung over their shoulders, hands fast and assured. Their work is quiet, steady, and unhurried, with all the rhythm of people who know the seasons, land and coffee-harvesting methods like the back of their hand.

We witness the washing and natural drying process of coffee. Meet farmers and local co-operatives. Hear stories of the land and craft, and are greeted like friends everywhere we go. We pass by villages with open-door homes, and catch glimpses of pans glowing in the firelight as beans brown and pop. Cups are offered without ceremony, yet each one carries the warmth and hospitality that this region is famed for. Indeed, the whole trip has been a testament to how to treat foreign visitors with open arms, curiosity, and kindness.

Our Journey Continues to Yirgacheffe

South of Sidama, the land grew steeper, shaded by taller trees, and the flavour of the coffee changed with it. Upon arrival at the farm in Yirgacheffe, our first duty was an important one — for our hosts and us — to sample a cup.

 

We sat beneath the canopy, wee cups balanced on our knees, as the breeze rippled across the fields, with long views down into a mystical valley. We savoured the bountiful natural paradise as the tangerine sun sank lower in the sky. The delicacy of the coffee is reflected in the care taken by those who grow it, with precise notes of jasmine, citrus, and honey, as warm a welcome to any destination as a weary traveller could wish for. To drink it was to taste the landscape itself.

 

In Sidama and Yirgacheffe, coffee is akin to a living archive, written in the fields, over fires, and in cups. Days and cups of coffee flowed by. We drank it all in—culture, hospitality and the craft of coffee cultivation. We witnessed and documented all we could as we journeyed to the source of Ethiopian coffee agriculture.