Look, it's the new Mimo’s Coffee logo. Yay! ...What is it?
While many have guessed correctly, others have assumed the symbol to be a myriad of things: a carafe (close), genie bottle (uh...), or even a breast pump (what...).
The new logo is a Jebena, a customary Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Sudanese coffee pot made of clay. Jebenas are used in traditional coffee ceremonies where coffee is served in small clay or ceramic pots alongside an assortment of snacks such as popcorn, roasted barley with peanuts, dabo culao (fried bread), and hambasha (my favorite bread from back home).
You can find a jebena in every Habesha household in varying decorations and designs that denote social status. There are subtle regional variations of the jebena, with different main styles existing - the Ethiopian and the Eritrean:
- Ethiopian variants have a separate spout to pour the water into and an additional spout to pour the coffee out from.
- Eritrean variants are made in a similar fashion but only possess one spout for the water to be poured in then for coffee to be subsequently poured out from.
I chose the jebena because it symbolizes home for me and like most Habeshas I have never lived without one near. It is a reminder of my mom and aunts back in Ethiopia chatting, communing, and celebrating the holidays together. It's a reminder of when my mother and I migrated to the US -- I remember initially feeling alone then eventually finding community and family after attending a few coffee ceremonies to socialize and mingle. And now it’s a symbol of my mother's and my love for expanding that community to all coffee lovers.