ROOTS & RAGAS

Roots & Ragas
An evening of Indian classical music, poured over Ethiopian coffee.

Two ancient traditions meet on Blackstock Road.

Coffee Origin opens its doors for an intimate evening where the ritual of Ethiopian coffee meets the raw improvisation of Indian classical music — two of the world's oldest living art forms, both built on patience, warmth and the slow unfolding of something beautiful.

The night begins the way it has begun in Ethiopia for centuries: green beans roasted over open flame, incense drifting through the room, the aroma filling the space before a single note is played. Coffee poured by hand, the traditional way — unhurried, generous, communal. This is the ceremony that gave the world coffee, performed properly.

Then the strings begin.

Etienne Bartholomew on sitar and Manmohan Dogra on tabla take you through an evening of raga — melodies that bend and breathe, rhythms that circle and resolve. Music made for close rooms and attentive ears, where every phrase is improvised in the moment and never played the same way twice. Nothing between you and the musicians but a few feet of warm air and the smell of fresh roast.

Roasted, incensed and poured by hand. Played live, up close, from the heart.

Come early. Sit close. Stay for the last note.

Friday 25 September · 6:00 PM
Coffee Origin · 225 Blackstock Road · London N5
Supported by aalaap.app

Shorter version for Instagram or a listing preview:

Two ancient traditions, one small room. Roots & Ragas brings together a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony — beans roasted over flame, incense in the air, poured by hand — and live Indian classical music from Etienne Bartholomew on sitar and Manmohan Dogra on tabla. Improvised in the moment, played close enough to touch. Friday 25 September, 6PM, at Coffee Origin on Blackstock Road. ☕🎶