TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Aceh will hold an international coffee festival in May 7-12, 2016. “An international coffee festival supported by Tourism Ministry. While at the national level, we already have festivals in our annual agenda,” said Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal at Teras Cikapundung, Bandung on Thursday.

Illiza said that the international coffee festival will be held to introduce Aceh’s embedded culture of coffee drinking. In addition, to promote the city—also known as Serambi Mekah (The Terrace of Mecca)—as the heaven of coffee shops to coffee lovers all over the world.

“Banda Aceh is known as a city with one thousand coffee shops. The experience of visiting Banda Aceh is not complete without drinking coffee all day with free Wi-Fi facilities,” he said.

In the festival, Aceh city administration will tout two Aceh coffees that are already well-known abroad: arabica gayo coffee and robusta coffee. “Arabica is very popular, even Starbucks uses it. We also want to promote the uniqueness of Aceh coffees with their exceptional flavors and good quality,” she said.

Illiza went on that the capital city of Aceh province has no coffee plantation. “We have no coffee [plantation], but coffee processing is common in Banda Aceh. We want to promote Aceh as a whole,” she said.

PUTRA PRIMA PERDANA