For Henok Negash Gebre, coffee is more than a beverage: it’s a passion, and it’s one which he is looking forward to sharing with the residents of Niverville. Gebre and his family are the owners of Negash Coffee, which will soon have a storefront in the new strip mall along Drovers Run.
“We will be opening a little coffee shop, but we will also be roasting, packaging, and distributing organic coffee from back home in Ethiopia,” says Gebre, who operates Negash Coffee with his wife Faisa, his brother-in-law, and his uncle.
The date of the grand opening has yet to be fixed, but Gebre says they expect to be into the space in mid-December and hope to be able to be roasting coffee by January, although this will all depend on how long it takes to get the interior set up and inspections passed.
“We won’t have a huge space in our shop,” Gebre notes. “But however many people we can fit, they will be very welcome to come in, sit down, and enjoy some wonderful coffee.”
Taking time to sit and really enjoy a cup of coffee together with friends and family is a ritual, Gebre says, and one that is a big part of Ethiopian culture. There is a traditional coffee ceremony that he and his family hope to share with visitors to their shop on weekends.
“You roast the beans in front of everybody, everybody is talking and spending time together, you grind the beans by hand, you brew it in front of everybody, and everybody is served three times from a traditional pot, and it’s this ritual of sharing coffee as a group.”
He adds that he can’t recall a single home in Ethiopia that doesn’t share this ritual.
Coffee is deeply embedded in Ethiopian history and culture. The formal cultivation and use of the coffee bean as a beverage began in the ninth century, although people in the region were familiar with the berries and the drink for centuries before that. The drink is named after Kaffa, a province in the southwestern highlands where the beans first blossomed.
While coffee beans are grown and sold from countries around the world, Ethiopia is the largest exporter in Africa, and it’s also the source of some of the world’s highest quality beans. One of the most common varieties are the Kaffa and Sidamo beans, commonly known as Arabica, while Yirgacheffe is one of the most coveted for its distinctive flavour.
Yirgacheffe is one of the beans Gebre is most excited to share with his fellow Nivervillers.
“That’s the best of the best,” he says. “You can tell when you drink it. It’s so smooth. I’ve never tasted another espresso like it. You don’t need milk or sugar, it’s just that smooth.”
Gebre envisions the coffee shop as a way to connect his old home and his new home. He and his family came to Canada in 2003, and in 2015 he and his wife decided to leave Winnipeg to raise their children outside the city.
When a friend pointed them to a house for sale in Niverville, he had to look up the town on a map. As he, his wife, and their children drove out to see the house, they were concerned about the distance from the city. But when they saw the place, they were convinced it was the right choice.
“We fell in love with the town and our neighbourhood, which is full of the most welcoming people I have ever met,” he says. “I don’t know the names of any of the people I lived near in the city for six years, but these people, I knew them by the second day. That’s how open and welcoming they are.”
Another thing he appreciates about the town is the number of family-run businesses. It’s something he’s passionate about, which is why his family chose to locate their shop here. It’s also why they source their coffee beans the way they do.
“Most of our coffee comes from the uncle of my good friend,” he explains. “We know these farmers. They are working to empower women, to give children a better education. It would be cheaper for us to buy from the government, but by dealing directly with the farmers, we see the benefit to those families and to their community.”
Gebre says that above all, he and his family are excited to share their passion for coffee and a bit of their culture with the town.
“I want to bring that love of really good coffee to this town. I want to make Niverville the place to go and have the best coffee in the province!”
