decoction method

Jebena brewing (Ethiopian coffee ceremony)

Freshly roasted, hand-ground coffee is simmered with water directly in a jebena (a rounded clay pot with a narrow neck) over heat, then poured without a filter into small handleless cups, grounds settling as it stands — the brewing step within the wider Ethiopian coffee ceremony, which also includes roasting the beans in front of guests and serving traditionally in three rounds (abol, tona, baraka). See CoffeeHQ's Ethiopian coffee ceremony history article for the ceremony as a whole; this record covers the brewing method specifically.

Coffee-to-water ratio: 60–90 g per litre (typically 75)
Grind: Fine, traditionally hand-ground rather than machine-ground.
Water temperature, as commonly used: 90-100 celsius (typically 96)°C
Contact time: 300-600 seconds (typically 420)
Skill level: intermediate

Descriptive grind labels like this are illustrative starting points, not precise measurements — the same label can mean different particle sizes on different grinders. See the grind size guide for how to dial this in on your own equipment.

This page is a short reference entry. The full account of the subject is the Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

In short

A jebena is a clay coffee pot with a round body, a long narrow neck and a handle, used in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ground coffee and water are heated together inside it, the pot is left to stand so the grounds sink, and the coffee is poured without a filter into small cups.

It is rarely made on its own. Brewing in a jebena is one stage of a coffee ceremony in which the green beans are washed, roasted and ground in front of the guests first. This page covers the brewing; the ceremony has its own article.

Where brewing sits in the ceremony

Widely documented

Wash and roast
Green coffee is rinsed and then roasted in a flat pan over the heat, stirred or shaken constantly until dark and aromatic.
Share the aroma
The pan of freshly roasted beans is carried round so that everyone present can smell them.
Grind
The beans are pounded, traditionally with a wooden mortar and pestle, to a fine but not powdery grind.
Brew in the jebena
Water is heated in the pot, the coffee is added through the neck, and the pot is brought up to a simmer.
Settle and pour
The jebena is taken off the heat and rested at an angle so the grounds sink, then poured in a thin stream into small cups.
Brew again
Water is added to the same grounds for a second and usually a third round, each weaker than the last.

An outline of the usual order. Details differ between regions, households and occasions, and no single sequence is authoritative.

What the shape of the pot does

CoffeeHQ explanation

The jebena filters by settling. The round base gives the grounds somewhere to collect, and the long narrow neck means that when the pot is tilted to pour, the liquid has to travel away from the sediment before it reaches the spout. In some designs a plug of fibre in the spout catches stray grounds.

Clay heats slowly and holds heat well, which suits a brew that is brought to a simmer and then left to stand. It is also fragile: a cold pot put straight onto strong heat can crack.

The figures, and how far to trust them

Typical range

A jebena is brewed by eye and by habit, not by weight. The figures below are approximations that describe the result, offered for readers who want to try it with a scale.

The figures, and how far to trust them
Variable	Typical range	What moving it does
Coffee to water	About 60–90 g per litre for the first round	Comparable to a strong filter coffee. Later rounds reuse the grounds and are weaker.
Grind	Fine	Coarser than for a cezve; it has to settle, not stay suspended.
Time	About 5–10 minutes including resting	Simmered briefly, then left to stand.

There is no standard recipe to cite. These numbers are approximate and should be read as a description, not an instruction.

The three rounds

Widely documented

Abol: The first and strongest round, made from the fresh grounds. The names used here are the Amharic ones; other languages of the region have their own.
Tona: The second round, brewed by adding water to the grounds already in the pot, and noticeably lighter in strength than the first.
Baraka: The third round, the weakest, and the one most associated with blessing. Guests are generally expected to stay for it.

What this page cannot tell you

Accounts differ

The jebena is well documented as a cultural practice and poorly documented as a brewing method. There are no published standards for it, and descriptions of dose, grind and timing come from household accounts that differ considerably.

Additions vary by region too. Sugar is common; salt, butter or spices are used in some places; and the coffee is often served with popcorn or roasted grain. CoffeeHQ records these as reported practices and does not present any of them as the authentic version.

What to do next

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony — The social meaning of the ceremony that this brewing step belongs to.
Ethiopian and Eritrean ceremonies compared — Where the two closely related traditions differ.
Coffee from Ethiopia — The origin of the coffee, and of arabica itself.
Turkish coffee brewing — The other major unfiltered method, which relies on a much finer grind.
Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.

Equipment

Jebena

Common problems

Excessive grounds in the cup if poured too soon after simmering
Cracking if a cold jebena is put directly onto high heat

Let the pot settle briefly after simmering before pouring, and pour from a height traditionally believed to add a light foam to each cup.

Work through what you noticed, for this method: the possible causes, the one change to try first, and what to look for in the next brew.

Cleaning & maintenance

Rinse the jebena after each use; avoid abrasive scrubbing that could damage the clay.

Unglazed clay jebenas are traditionally seasoned with use; handle with care as clay is more fragile than metal brewing vessels.

Buna (Ethiopian ceremonial coffee)

Roasts and coffees that suit it

Named regional traditions built on this brewing method — the same mechanism, put to culturally distinct use.

Tools for planning a brew with this method, and for adjusting one that did not go to plan.

Make my coffee betterSay how you brew and what you noticed, and get the likely causes, the quickest check, and one thing to change first.

Sources and methodology

What is ours and what is sourced

The sequence and the names of the three rounds are widely documented. The numerical ranges are approximations with no published standard behind them, and the page says so where they appear. The explanation of how the pot's shape separates the grounds is CoffeeHQ's own.

Each section above is labelled with the kind of claim it makes. Ranges describe common practice, not a rule, and CoffeeHQ has not run tastings or laboratory measurements of its own: where a number appears, it comes from the sources below or from arithmetic on the stated recipe.

Makers' instructions and professional practice

The World Atlas of Coffee

Historical sources, reference works and reporting

Diaspora and community cultural documentation, University oral-history projects, community organisations and diaspora food writing

Last reviewed 6 October 2026. What each source was used for, and its limits, are in the source register and how to report a correction.