From Bean to Brew: Besa Gordon Celebrates National Coffee Day at Boon Boona

#NationalCoffeeDay - September 29th was national coffee day, and to celebrate Besa Gordon headed to Boon Boona Coffee in Renton to learn all about the coffee-making process and taste different brews.

She tapped in with Owner and CEO Efrem Fesaha and Director of Coffee Ali Gulduren as they prepared a variety of different beans and told Gordon about their techniques as well as led her in a traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian coffee ceremony. 

“We’re gonna start off with the raw coffee directly from Ethiopia and roast it,” Fesaha said. “Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee.”

Coming from an Eritrean family, Fesaha founded Boon Boona to bring African coffee to the Pacific Northwest by importing sustainably sourced beans from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi and more. 

For Gordon, the experience opened her eyes to the power of coffee in East Africa as Fesaha told her about the ways he and his family use it to connect.

“Here we’re drinking coffee as a way to wake up,” Gordon said. “It seems like there you’re drinking it as a way to come together.”

Fesaha added that connecting the two cultures is a critical piece of his mission.

 “To get this experience in a cafe, it takes a little more time of course. We want to find a balance between this traditional approach and that desire to get your coffee and go.”

You can see more in the segment and visit Boon Boona at any of their three locations in Seattle, Renton, and the University Bookstore.

Make sure to tune into Back2Besa this week at 10:30 pm every Saturday on FOX 13 and stream the replay Sunday at 10 am on FOX 13 +.