The aroma of incense and roasting coffee filled a room at the Northwest African American Museum on Saturday afternoon, as five women demonstrated a centuries-old ritual from their home country of Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.

It was not the intimate, hours-long event that Ethiopian coffee ceremonies typically are.

A few dozen attendees crowded the room, chatting and laughing and walking around, fueled by excitement and coffee. Some were from Seattle's Ethiopian community, which the museum estimates numbers 20,000 to 25,000 people.

"I like to come and see what other people think of the culture," said Endanchy Girma, a native Ethiopian who has lived in Seattle for more than 30 years.

She plans to open a coffee shop called Cafe Char at 2310 E. Madison St. in March, and will hold monthly coffee ceremonies there that last the more traditional three hours.

"Every time I visit [Ethiopia], this is the best thing I enjoy, the ceremony," she said. "You get to visit all the neighbors."

Check out the rest of my story from yesterday's ceremony, including interesting comments from readers about the tradition of putting butter, salt and/or sugar in coffee.

And don't miss a Seattle blog called Coffee Politics that offers an in-depth look at the politics and economics of Ethiopian coffee, from the country's 2006/2007 trademark battle with Starbucks to more recent conflicts between the specialty coffee industry and the newish Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. Starbucks has said it's not having trouble getting specialty coffee out of Ethiopia; it also has indefinitely stalled on plans to open a farmer support center there.