I was sitting in the waiting room of my dentist a few weeks before I went to Ethiopia, randomly flipping through magazines. I chanced upon an article on the history of coffee, and was intrigued to discover that coffee had originated in Ethiopia. As I later came to know, no story on Ethiopian coffee could possibly omit a mention of Tomoca!
Tomoca is the oldest continuously operating cafe in Addis, this branch off a side street of Churchill Ave having started in 1953. There's a newer branch inside a fancy glass building a few hundred metres down the road, but that just feels like an ordinary cafe.
The inside is stuffed full of coffee paraphernalia, some of which must date back to the Italian occupation. These giant old coffee machines are no longer used, but sit silently on a benchtop, watching the hustle and bustle.
One pays at the front counter, the salesgirls cool as cucumbers while dealing with a dozen customers at a time thrusting money in their faces. In exchange, one gets a coloured token (black for macchiato, blue for spriss, yellow for latte) which one takes down to the baristas out the back.
Two baristas pump out all the coffees, with a lady standing between them co-ordinating all the action. She takes your token and puts it next to a plate, but somehow manages to remember whose drink belongs to whom, and what order everyone came in.
Tomoca is tiny, a few bar tables with no chairs filling out most of the space. Along one wall is a coffee bean dispenser, under which are is a prized a wooden bench providing seating for the occasional lady that wanders in.
There is one lonely old red formica table, accompanied by the only chair in the whole place. When all that is taken up, people spill out onto the footpath, along the benches and windows, finally extending into the aromatic roasting room at the back.
Now, let me reminisce about the coffee. Though we had plenty of good coffees throughout Ethiopia, Tomoca's coffee was clearly the standout winner. Rich, strong and full-bodied, there was always excellent crema and a perfectly smooth consistency. The amount of "buzz" was just right too.
I drank mostly macchiato, but on one occasion met an Ethiopian man who introduced me to "spriss", a drink made of half black tea, half espresso shot with a good dousing of sugar.
When served the coffee floats on top of the tea, but with a stir it turns an ominous colour which does not look inviting at all. One sip though, and I was hooked. The initial taste is that of coffee, but once it passes the after-taste is clearly that of tea. It is a drink with a light consistency, though somewhat syrupy from all the sugar.
Tomoca was "the" place to be, and we met our fair share of random strangers in it too. Almost all the locals we met there announced their allegiance to Tomoca, declaring it the bestest coffee in Addis, despite the existence of popular franchise chains like Yeshi and Kaldis. I, too, fell in love with Tomoca. And secretly promised myself that one day I shall return for another spriss.
Tomoca is the oldest continuously operating cafe in Addis, this branch off a side street of Churchill Ave having started in 1953. There's a newer branch inside a fancy glass building a few hundred metres down the road, but that just feels like an ordinary cafe.
The inside is stuffed full of coffee paraphernalia, some of which must date back to the Italian occupation. These giant old coffee machines are no longer used, but sit silently on a benchtop, watching the hustle and bustle.
One pays at the front counter, the salesgirls cool as cucumbers while dealing with a dozen customers at a time thrusting money in their faces. In exchange, one gets a coloured token (black for macchiato, blue for spriss, yellow for latte) which one takes down to the baristas out the back.
Two baristas pump out all the coffees, with a lady standing between them co-ordinating all the action. She takes your token and puts it next to a plate, but somehow manages to remember whose drink belongs to whom, and what order everyone came in.
Tomoca is tiny, a few bar tables with no chairs filling out most of the space. Along one wall is a coffee bean dispenser, under which are is a prized a wooden bench providing seating for the occasional lady that wanders in.
 |
| with Yoshi, a Japanese man we kept bumping into |
There is one lonely old red formica table, accompanied by the only chair in the whole place. When all that is taken up, people spill out onto the footpath, along the benches and windows, finally extending into the aromatic roasting room at the back.
Now, let me reminisce about the coffee. Though we had plenty of good coffees throughout Ethiopia, Tomoca's coffee was clearly the standout winner. Rich, strong and full-bodied, there was always excellent crema and a perfectly smooth consistency. The amount of "buzz" was just right too.
I drank mostly macchiato, but on one occasion met an Ethiopian man who introduced me to "spriss", a drink made of half black tea, half espresso shot with a good dousing of sugar.
When served the coffee floats on top of the tea, but with a stir it turns an ominous colour which does not look inviting at all. One sip though, and I was hooked. The initial taste is that of coffee, but once it passes the after-taste is clearly that of tea. It is a drink with a light consistency, though somewhat syrupy from all the sugar.
Tomoca was "the" place to be, and we met our fair share of random strangers in it too. Almost all the locals we met there announced their allegiance to Tomoca, declaring it the bestest coffee in Addis, despite the existence of popular franchise chains like Yeshi and Kaldis. I, too, fell in love with Tomoca. And secretly promised myself that one day I shall return for another spriss.
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