ቀለም

Drink the colors.

Qelem is the Amharic word for color. Each Ethiopian coffee we serve has its own, from red berries to blueberry jam to jasmine tea.

Find your color Our story
A hand-wrapped horn in bands of blue, yellow, green, orange and red thread
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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. Arabica, the coffee most of the world drinks, is native to the forests of Ethiopia. The old story says a goat herder named Kaldi saw his goats dancing after eating red cherries. Families here have gathered around the roasting, the smoke and the three rounds ever since.

We wrapped the horn in thread, one color for every flavor that comes to the cup.

The colors

Every coffee has its color.

Each thread on the horn is a flavor. Tap a color to see the coffee.

First bag

Guji Uraga

Natural · East Guji, Ethiopia

Red berries, strawberry, lemon blossom.

Grade
G1
Roast
Light
Price
$25.00 · 12 oz
Status
Pre-order
On the way

Guji Hambella

Natural · Guji, Ethiopia

Blueberry, jammy, cocoa.

Grade
G2
Roast
Light
On the way

Yirgacheffe

Washed · Gedeo, Ethiopia

Floral, citrus, delicate.

Grade
G1
Roast
Light
On the way

Dogo Sodu

Washed · West Guji, Ethiopia

Clean, floral, tea-like.

Grade
G1
Roast
Light
On the way

Harar

Natural · Harar, Ethiopia

Wild and winey, with spice. Our own notes after we cup our roast.

Grade
To be confirmed
Roast
Light

More colors are coming. Ethiopia first, then wherever the horn leads.

The ceremony

Three cups, three rounds.

In an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, the coffee is poured in three rounds, and nobody leaves before the third. Each round has its own character, and each one is a reason to stay.

1

Abol

አቦል

The first cup, the strongest. The one everyone waits for.

2

Tona

ቶና

The second cup is where the conversation opens. Stories, news and laughter.

3

Baraka

በረካ

The third is the blessing. The whole table is wished well.

The cup

Slow down. Taste it.

We ask for a light roast so the fruit and the flowers stay loud. In every cup you can taste the hands that grew it, the hands that roasted it, and the hands that poured it.

Lift the cup slowly. First the red berries, then the lemon blossom. That is what we mean by Qelem.

Qelem Horn Coffee Guji Ethiopia natural, 12 oz whole bean label

Tap the bag to read the label

The first bag

Guji, Ethiopia

Single origin, no blends · natural process · light roast · whole bean · 12 oz and 10 lb

$25.00 · 12 oz · pre-order

Red berries, strawberry, lemon blossom.

Variety
Ethiopian heirloom
Process
Sun-dried whole on raised beds, 18–21 days
Altitude
2,300 masl
Sizes
12 oz and 10 lb
Single origin
No blends. One lot with a clear identity: region, producer, process, altitude and harvest, traceable end to end.
Roasted
To our light profile
Pre-order, $25.00

Online checkout is coming soon. For now, pre-order by email and we will write back with the roast and delivery date.

The road

From the highlands to your cup.

The farm

Gerba, Guji, at 2,300 meters. Cold nights, slow cherry, a lot of sugar.

Workers turning coffee cherries drying on raised beds in Ethiopia

The drying

Whole cherries on raised beds for 18–21 days. Slow, on purpose.

Light-roasted Qelem coffee beans

The roast

Roasted light, so the fruit and flowers stay loud.

Coffee poured the traditional way from a jebena

The cup

Poured the way it has always been poured.

Deborah pouring coffee from a jebena into small cups at a coffee event

Our story

We met in Ethiopia. We brought the cup home.

We met in Ethiopia in 2020. Coffee was already the language there: a cup poured slowly, a table that does not rush.

Deborah learned the ceremony the way it has always been taught, by growing up inside it. She pours it from a jebena in three rounds, and she knows what makes a cup excellent.

This January our family spent the first three weeks in Addis, for a wedding and for family. What stayed with us was the color of the celebration. We wanted a coffee that tastes like that.

I am a chemist by training. I studied organic chemistry, and I look at a roast the way I look at a reaction: heat, time, sugars and acids. Deborah knows the pour. I know the chemistry. The coffee needs both.

The roast

A chemist’s view of a light roast.

A roast is heat moving through a bean. Three things happen, and the order matters.

1

Dry

Green coffee is about 10 to 12 percent water. The first minutes of a roast drive most of it off.

2

Brown

Sugars and amino acids react, the Maillard reaction, and sugars caramelize. This browning builds sweetness and aroma.

3

Stop

Around 195 to 200 °C the beans crack as steam and gas escape. A light roast ends soon after, before the delicate fruit and flower compounds cook away.

That is why we ask for a light roast: so the fruit and flowers stay loud.

Brew it right

Borrowed from the Japanese, poured like home.

Japanese coffee culture treats brewing as a craft: patience, a slow pour, nothing wasted. A light roast rewards that care, so we borrow the method.

Pour-over

V60 or Kalita

15 g coffee, 240 g water at about 94 °C, medium-fine grind. Bloom with 30 g for 40 seconds, then pour slowly. Aim to finish near 2:45.

Japanese iced

Brewed onto ice

20 g coffee, 120 g hot water at about 94 °C poured over 80 g of ice. The coffee chills as it drips, and the fruit stays bright.

Ceremony

The jebena

Fine grind, simmered in the jebena, poured in three rounds: Abol, Tona, Baraka. We teach it at our pours.

Starting points. Too sour? Grind finer. Too bitter? Grind coarser.

Deborah and Liban, the owners of Qelem Horn Coffee, in traditional Ethiopian dress

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, and to put every color of Ethiopian coffee in one cup, one flavor at a time.

Our coffee comes straight from Ethiopia. It is roasted to our light profile, and 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.

[email protected]