It is a little known fact that coffee was first used in Uganda five centuries ago.

However, it was not roasted and used as a drink as it is today. The coffee bean had a key role in the Buganda ritual of brotherhood. Coffee plants grow a berry-like pod, each of which contains two coffee beans. When two Buganda men wished to cement their friendship they would split open one of these pods and extract the beans. They then made a small cut in their torso, put some of their blood in the bean and exchanged beans. As long as each had the other’s coffee bean they remained blood brothers. So strong was the significance of this ritual that if one were to fall in love with their blood brother’s sister, another ritual had to be carried out to break the brotherly bond and allow the marriage to take place.

Coffee, of course, has a very different use today

but is still has its place firmly at the heart of many friendships. Many meaningful and formative conversations happen over a cup of coffee. Many important friendships have begun and been cemented with the help of that special little bean.

Kuvuka is about relationships; it is about enjoying the company of friends

Kuvuka is about relationships; it is about enjoying the company of friends in an environment conducive to relaxation, laughter, conversation, and even your connection with God. It is about one appreciating, understanding and empathizing with another and crossing cultural divides. In fact, “Kuvuka” means “to cross”, as Kuvuka is also about being a bridge between our culture in the UK and those in Africa.

Kuvuka will create an environment and ethos that represents and informs on what the African continent has to offer, facilitates lasting friendships, and inspires its patrons with a sense of both local and global social responsibility.