Those before us
The ones who roasted over open flame and are no longer at the table. Their cup is still poured.
We are still here, in the first sip.
ቀለም
Drink the colors.
Qelem is the Amharic word for color. Every cup holds the voices of the people who poured before you, and the ones pouring beside you.
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The horn
A horn is made to be heard.
In the Horn of Africa, a horn calls people in. It carries across the hills and says: come, sit, there is a cup waiting.
Coffee began in these same hills. For as long as anyone remembers, families have gathered around it: the roasting, the smoke, the three rounds, the time spent together.
We wrapped the horn in thread, one color for every voice that comes to the cup.
The colors
No generation drinks alone.
Each color on the horn is a voice. Put them side by side and you get something none of them could be alone.
The elders
Grandmothers and grandfathers who kept the ceremony alive and taught it with their hands.
Sit. There is time.
The builders
Our generation. Between two worlds, carrying the old one into the new.
We brought it with us.
The young
Gen Z and the ones after. New cafés, new brews, the same inheritance.
Make it ours too.
Those to come
The children who have not yet been handed their first cup.
Save a place for us.
One cup. Every generation. Nobody stands alone.
The ceremony
Three cups, three voices.
In an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, the coffee is poured in three rounds, and nobody leaves before the third. We think of the rounds as a family speaking in turn.
1
Abol
አቦል
The first cup, the strongest. We picture the elders speaking first while everyone listens.
2
Tona
ቶና
The second cup is where the conversation opens. Stories, news and laughter pass between the generations.
3
Baraka
በረካ
The third is the blessing. The whole table is wished well, and the youngest are handed the tradition.
The cup
You are drinking a chorus.
Coffee is one of the oldest drinks there is. We pour into it everything that came with it: the hands that grew it, the hands that roasted it, and the hands that will hold it next.
Lift it slowly. The red berries are one voice. The lemon blossom is another. Together, that is Qelem.
The coffees
Each coffee, its own color.
We are starting with one and building toward many, from Ethiopia and beyond. Each new coffee gets its own thread on the horn.
Guji · Ethiopia
Natural · light roast · 12 oz
Red berries, strawberry, lemon blossom.
Yirgacheffe
Washed · Gedeo, Ethiopia
Floral, citrus, delicate.
Guji Hambella
Natural · Guji, Ethiopia
Blueberry, jammy, cocoa.
Kenya
Another voice from the Horn
Notes to come.
The road
From the highlands to your cup.
The farm
Gerba, Guji, at 2,300 meters. Cold nights, slow cherry, a lot of sugar.
The drying
Whole cherries on raised beds for 18–21 days. Slow, on purpose.
The roast
Roasted light in Charlotte, so the fruit and flowers stay loud.
The cup
Poured the way it has always been poured.
The owners
Meet Deborah and Liban.
We are an Ethiopian-American family. Deborah leads the company as CEO and pours coffee the traditional way, from a jebena, at coffee events.
We started Qelem to bring the coffee we grew up with to Charlotte, roasted by us, and to put every generation of our table in one cup.
Our coffee comes straight from Ethiopia through Gobez, our primary source, an Ethiopian-American family company that buys green coffee at origin. We roast it ourselves, so every bag traces back to where it grew.
Pour with us
Come to the table.
Our first bags are on the way. Find us at events around the region, or write to us to reserve a bag.
Events
Come to a pour
Coffee ceremonies and tastings in Charlotte and beyond. Dates will be posted here.
Online
Order a bag
Online ordering is coming soon. Email us to reserve one of the first.
Wholesale
Pour it for others
Cafés, shops and gatherings: ask about wholesale and event pours.