It starts with the preparation of the space for the routine. Initially, the lady who is carrying out the ceremony spreads out fresh, fragrant grasses and flowers throughout the flooring. She begins burning incense to fend off evil spirits and continues to burn incense throughout the event. She fills a round-bottomed, black clay coffeepot (known as a jebena) with water and puts it over cinders.
Holding the pan over cinders or a little fire, she stirs and shakes the husks and debris out of the beans until they are clean. When the beans are tidy, she slowly roasts them in the pan she utilized to clean them. During the roasting, she keeps the roast as even as possible by shaking the beans (just like one would shake an old-fashioned popcorn popper) or stirring them continuously.
The fragrance of the roasted coffee is powerful and is considered to be an essential aspect of the event. After the person hosting has roasted the beans, she will grind them. She uses a tool similar to a mortar and pestle. The "mortar" is a little, heavy wood bowl called a mukecha (pronounced moo-key-cha), and the "pestle" is a wood or metal cylinder with a blunt end, called a zenezena.
