What is your position in the coffee industry?

coffee enthusiast

Where are you located? ( City and Country )

Bethesda, MD

How many years have you been in the industry?

Over 20 years from C-market, wholesale, retail (growing ethnic market) to marketing specialty coffee and conducting Ethiopian coffee ceremony. The reaction of people who attend our coffee shows is phenomenal.

If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?

maybe

Tell us more about your coffee shop or barista skills.

I with my coffee girl(s)* and traditional coffee singer(s) conduct Ethiopian coffee in homes, coffee shops or events by demonstrating roasting, grinding, brewing and serving coffee right there and then. The whole process take up to 2-3 hours which helps attendees get to know about each other by the end of our show.
This is why some call it a social or group therapy.

One can get the information about Ethiopian coffee brewing demonstration on a cook book that I co-authored with my wife, The Taste of Ethiopia, ISBN# 0-9654626-6-8.

What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?

Any where if it falls with in our planned coffee tour. We are plannnig to kick off from The Hill, Coffee on The Hill™.

The purpose of our coffee tour is to introduce our brand, eduacte coffee lovers the ABC of coffee and especially about the lives behind it.

About Me:

Married with two children. I am the cofounder of a small specialty coffee company. We bring Ethiopia's best coffee to the Organic, Fair Trade & Shade grown coffee lovers. By doing this we are trying to make a difference in the lives of the coffee farmers back home in Ethiopia and else where in Africa where we're from.

About My Company:

The company is a Delware registared corporation located in
Bethesda MD. Raised few investment dollars.

Currently sell coffee direct through our web site, AbolCoffeeInc.com, through regional distributors and at limited independent "Third wave" Cafes.
We use our coffee shows as a marketing tool to darw traffic for the coffee shops who carry our coffee.

We have a way of promoting and marketing the coffee shops where we do our ceremony with e-mail campaign through various communities, fair trade and enviromental organizations we worked with in the past and present; bringing the global coffee crisis massages to various communities, like co-op America, OXFAM America or coffee meet up groups to draw traffic of coffee culural enthusist, organic, fair trade and shade grown coffee lovers and immigrants from the coffee growing countries of Africa, Ethiopians and other African Immigrants through out the major US cities.

We have done these coffee shows since we opened our coffee and spice shop in late 80s in Washington DC and continue to do so after we sold the store. The name of our store was Merkato which one can find it in many major US cities, Africa, the Middle east and western Europe, non of which we owned.

The following is all about what Ethiopian coffee ceremony and our Ethiopian ceremony all about.

Ethiopian coffee ceremony is a century old coffee making tradition; that bonded and brought our people of the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim faith of Ethiopia.
To see picture about coffee show view the clip on our website, AbolCoffeeInc.com or on You Tube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdNAKQchPHQ

Let us bring this coffee culture to your place of business or your home. We will conduct an elaborate Ethiopian coffee ceremony, "coffee cupping" by the original "baristas", reading coffee poems, performing cultural coffee dance and songs, and screening of coffee movies.

Our previous coffee shows include;

1. The Village Festival, Adams Morgan, Washington DC, July 1994

2. Smithsonian Folk Lore Festival, Summer 1996

3. ALL Ethiopian Restaurant in metro Washington DC. from March 16, 2002 to May 2002.

4. DNC (Democratic National Convention) 2002 at a community function supporting a presidenatial candidate.
(We were honored to have H.E Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Mick Honda and other senior party officials )

5. Ethiopian Embassy in honor of Singer Michael Jackson 2004

6. Department of Libraries, Central library. Arlington VA 2004

7 . Community functions and Conventions 2004-NOW

We are open to partner with any one who sees our competative advantage, The traditional coffee making culture, The story of coffee, The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony.
Our story beginis with the word KAFFA, a place in Ethiopia where coffee was first discoverd and where we plan to take coffee lovers to the birth place of coffee, Kaffa, Ethiopia.

Website:

http://www.AbolCoffeeInc.com