Telba: The Curiously Pleasant Flax Seed Beverage

On a recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, I tasted a drink that was new to me. It was a frappe made from ground flax seeds. It had a sweet, nutty taste, and a creamy texture.

The drink is called “telba,” the Ethiopian word for flax seeds. I ordered it at the wonderful Ethiopian restaurant Cafe Colucci, which sits on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland and has been garnering rave reviews for over ten years.

Just looking at the pictures I took makes me hungry for Ethiopian food. I was taken to Cafe Colucci by my friend Bryant Terry, acclaimed author of the cookbooks Grub and Vegan Soul Kitchen, and East Bay restaurant authority.

Here’s Bryant after we stopped at Ici for ice cream, another tasty East Bay destination on Bryant’s must visit list. This was a week before Bryant’s wife gave birth to a baby girl, his first child. I think all the good food helped him to stay calm.

After I got home, I decided to try making telba. It  turns out that the drink is made simply from flax seeds, water, and a little honey. To start, I toasted one cup of flax seeds in a pan over low heat for seven minutes, until they started to smell nutty and sweet. I never knew flax seeds could smell so good!

After toasting the seeds and letting them cool, I ground them finely in a spice grinder. Then came the hard part.

I pressed the seeds through a mesh strainer to remove the tough bits of hull. It took a while. Next time, I’ll use a sifter. To soften the seeds before blending, I soaked them with eight cups of water for twenty minutes, and then blended the mixture thoroughly. I put the blender in the refrigerator for an hour to let the solids fall to the bottom. The liquid that rose to the top was thick, white, and frothy.

I spiced it up with nutmeg, cinnamon, honey, blended dates, and a pinch of salt, but it would have been fine just as it was, creamy and mild. Also on the menu at Café Colucci is, “Suff Ethiopian Sunflower” beverage, I’ll have to try that next…

6 thoughts on “Telba: The Curiously Pleasant Flax Seed Beverage

  1. This sounds delicious, and I can't wait to try it.  The only thing I would add is that flax seeds should be toasted at a very low temperature.  I've read that toasting them above 250 degrees can damage the fats.  Still, this sounds awesome, and will make a wonderful summer breakfast drink!  Love all that you do, Louisa.  Thanks, and cheers!

  2. This sounds delicious, and I can't wait to try it.  The only thing I would add is that flax seeds should be toasted at a very low temperature.  I've read that toasting them above 250 degrees can damage the fats.  Still, this sounds awesome, and will make a wonderful summer breakfast drink!  Love all that you do, Louisa.  Thanks, and cheers!

  3. Although the topic sounds old, I landed here searching for “telba” the ethiopian flaxseed.

    I wanted to add that “Suff Ethiopian Sunflower” in the above article is a misleading phrase.
    Suff = Ethiopian Safflower (Saf – flower)
    Nug = Ethiopian sunflower (Sun – flower).
    They are two distinct stuff.
    I am originally from Ethiopia and currently live in US. I still use extensivelly but alternately both sunflower oil and safflower oil from Kroger or walmart. In ethiopia, we use safflower to mix with qollo (ethiopian cereal staple used for snacks) but sunflower is used mainly for oil extraction. The remain from sunflower (nug) is used to mix with cattle food and is commenly known as “fagulo”.

    1. Thank you Dawit, this is fascinating! I hope I get to visit Ethiopia some time, the food is so interesting and different from what I know. There’s a long history of cultural exchange, including recipes and ingredients, between Ethiopia and Iran. If you get out to the Bay Area, stop by Colucci for a meal, it’s great, I was just back there last spring. You can tell them to correct the menu!

  4. Anybody know how to make safflower (suff) drink? Drank it in Ethiopia and it was great. Didn’t ask then because I didn’t know the health benefits.

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