Excerpt from He Shall Return:
Madison was a coffee girl through and through. Her morning ritual involved brewing pour-over coffee, a process she treated with reverence.
“You can tell a lot about people by how they drink their coffee,” she teased Alexander one morning when he admitted he didn’t drink it at all. “Not a single cup? Ever?” She gasped, clutching her mug of Ethiopian roast dramatically. “That’s blasphemy in this part of the world. Don’t worry; I’ll fix that.”
And she did. Madison introduced Alexander to every coffee shop within a fifty-mile radius of Silicon Valley. From the industrial-chic Blue Bottle in Hayes Valley to the minimalist charm of Verve Coffee Roasters in San Francisco, she dragged him along, delighting in his tentative sips, until one day he found himself genuinely craving a cappuccino. By the time they attended the annual San Francisco Coffee Festival together, Alexander had become a full convert.
“See? I knew you’d come around,” Madison said, smirking, as Alexander debated the flavor profiles of a single-origin brew with a barista.
Coffee as Awakening, as Magic — A Ritual of Care and Return
I had to stop drinking coffee orally – that’s a story for another day. My skin drinks Ethiopian or Cameroonian brewed coffee every morning. While my skin digests its coffee, steam curls upward from a cup of Cacao in my hand, my mind on the beauty of caffeine. Coffee is an ancient African gift to the world, born from the red soils of Ethiopia. It carries with it a rhythm older than empire, older than trade routes—the rhythm of beginning again.
In He Shall Return, memory itself is a character, calling descendants to awaken, to shake off sleep and listen to the voices of old wisdom. Coffee, too, is a ritual of waking—not just of the body, but of the soul.
When we sip slowly, intentionally, we practice return. We return to ourselves. We return to the patience of lineages who cultivated these beans long before the first European ships set sail. In choosing organic, shade-grown coffee, we align with values of care—for the earth, for the farmer, for ourselves.
This is not just a beverage; it’s a vehicle of ritual, a sacrament of presence. A chance to ask: Where am I going? And to what am I returning?
The rituals of reading, writing, and remembering form part of my self-care for body and soul, they are like my experience with writing He Shall Return – nourishment for memory and spirit.
As I continue to nourish my spirit by creating stories of discovery, reflection, healing and reclamation, I also create natural remedies for the body. Both are part of one journey. Skin has always been a big part of my identity and an anchor to my sense of self. I always insisted everyone around me be super moisturized and glowing, and my brothers would try and resist by telling me it wasn’t my oils and butters, but the fortune of being blessed with good skin. But really what is good skin? For me, my skin care routine is a ritual that anchors me to Chukwunonso – to me. Some see magic as voodoo and spells. I see magic as a routine. The magic to my beautiful skin is in my routine. Coffee is part of that routine. Some drink coffee to wake up, but my skin drinks coffee to glow. Luxurious coffee oil is part of my magic, a magic that works and is essential to my morning routine. That’s what lights the lamp under my skin.
The First Light of Memory
Before the day begins to speak in obligations, the body remembers. In the quiet before noise, the fragrance of coffee is a small torch—it reminds us that the world has already turned, that morning is a covenant renewed. The Oromo legend of Kaldi and his goats is not simply an origin myth; it is a parable that says: Wakefulness is a calling. Coffee was never only a drink—it was a ceremony, a community, a telling of news, a stitching of time.
Across the Horn of Africa and into the wider world, coffee has been a ritual of return. It is how grandmothers spoke without raising their voices, how neighbors shared histories while the beans cracked and released their oils, how grief was softened with a bitter sweetness that did not lie about life’s complexity.
Diaspora Mornings
In diaspora kitchens, coffee anchors a geography of longing. The kettle sings on American stoves as if it remembers the narrow-necked jebena of Ethiopia. The mug warms our palms and announces: You are here—and also there. We sip, and time collapses; scent is a bridge that does not require visas.
For readers of He Shall Return, coffee becomes more than caffeine; it is a ceremony of recollection. Alexander’s ache, Afamefuna’s echo—the cup holds both the ache and the echo. With each sip we practice an ethic of presence: staying long enough for memory to do its work.
Coffee in West Africa—The Two Faces of Beauty: Robusta vs. Arabica
I remember my first experience of Cameroonian coffee. My father’s Cameroonian PhD student had given him a pack after her final thesis. The packaging, the smell, the darkness of the ground coffee beans, captivated me before the first sip. Nestled in the heart of Africa, Cameroon cultivates two distinct coffee varieties that are transforming the skincare world. In the coastal lowlands, Robusta coffee thrives with its bold, earthy character and impressive resilience. Meanwhile, high in the western highlands of Bamileke and Bamaoun, delicate Arabica beans flourish in the cool mountain air, offering smoother, more aromatic properties.
But here’s where it gets exciting for your skin: these differences aren’t just about taste—they translate directly into skincare benefits.
Robusta’s Robust Benefits
Grown in Cameroon’s western region, Robusta beans pack nearly twice the caffeine content of Arabica. For your skin, this means supercharged antioxidant power that fights free radicals, reduces inflammation, and gives you that coveted morning glow without actually drinking a drop.
Arabica’s Aromatic Advantage
Those high-altitude Arabica beans from the misty highlands? They’re rich in chlorogenic acids and lipids that deeply nourish skin, improve texture, and provide gentle exfoliation. The same smoothness you taste translates to smoother, more radiant skin.
Cameroon’s diverse climate and dramatic elevation changes create the perfect conditions for coffee cultivation—and inadvertently, for exceptional skincare ingredients. The volcanic soil enriches the beans with minerals like magnesium and potassium, while the varying altitudes produce different antioxidant profiles. It’s like nature’s own skincare laboratory.
The Sustainable Glow-Up
As Cameroon’s coffee culture evolves toward sustainability and artisanal practices, the beauty industry is taking note. Small-batch, ethically sourced coffee grounds are becoming the gold standard in clean beauty. When you choose coffee-based skincare with Cameroonian beans, you’re not just treating your skin—you’re supporting communities and sustainable farming practices that protect the very ecosystems that make these miracle beans possible.
Whether it’s the bold resilience of Robusta or the refined elegance of Arabica, Cameroon’s coffee heritage offers something extraordinary for every skin type. The next time you slather luxurious coffee body oil on your skin, or exfoliate with coffee grounds or massage on a caffeine-infused serum, remember you’re carrying the legacy of highland farmers, volcanic soil, and centuries of cultivation right there on your skin.
Now that’s what we call a beauty ritual with depth.
Brewing as Devotion
In a busy world, disrupt your hustle, and let brewing be liturgy. Grind beans slowly. Inhale the moment the grind releases its dark perfume. Heat water until it trembles but does not rage; pour in circles like you’re tracing a portal. Listen for the bloom. Somewhere, an ancestor leans in: “Steady, child. Life reveals itself slowly.”
Ritual Recipe: Skin, Earth, and the Sacred Bean
Coffee is earth-born exfoliant—ground beans with a touch of oil polish the skin like a river stone. In tending our body, we tend the story housed within it.
Recipe
2 tbsp fine coffee grounds + 1 tbsp raw sugar + 1 tbsp shea or coconut oil. Massage gently in circles; rinse with warm water. Whisper a name you want to remember.
Reflection
What does your morning smell like? What memory rises with it? Write five sentences that begin with “I return to…”
Reflection ilu
As you brew a cup mindfully, or massage in coffee oil into your skin this week, smell deeply before sipping or pouring into your palms. As the warmth travels through your chest, whisper to yourself: I return. I remember. I rise, whole, gorgeous and centered.