{"id":500990,"date":"2014-08-16T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?guid=b27dbad5aa0f09df3ab8a1fed3ee14a4"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:40:07","slug":"from-ethiopian-highlands-to-the-espresso-cup-coffees-origin-story-still-starts-in-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/500990","title":{"rendered":"From Ethiopian highlands to the espresso cup: coffee\u2019s origin story still starts in Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global coffee culture\u2014from Italian espresso bars to single-origin pour-overs\u2014traces its botanical and cultural roots to the Ethiopian highlands<\/strong>, where Coffea arabica<\/em> evolved and where coffee ceremonies remain everyday social practice.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

Spanish and Latin American features in the mid-2010s revisited that journey: wild and garden coffee in Kaffa and Sidama, trade through the Red Sea and Ottoman worlds, colonial and post-colonial commodity markets, and today\u2019s specialty boom. Ethiopia remains both a genetic reservoir for Arabica and a major producer whose export earnings matter for farmers and foreign exchange.<\/p>\n

Understanding coffee\u2019s Ethiopian origin is not nostalgia. It frames debates about geographical indication, climate threats to highland farms, and how much value stays with producers versus roasters abroad.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h3>\n