Yunus Emre Institute (YEI) organized a Turkish coffee promotion event in Beijing, the capital of China.

Chinese guests, including industry representatives, trainers, and coffee enthusiasts, attended the event held at the Beijing Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center.

After the welcoming and opening speech, educator and translator Filiz Ünal and the Institute team made a presentation on the history of coffee in Turkey, its culture, and its place in social life and human relations. 

At the presentation at the event held on July 11, 2022, information on how Turkish coffee is prepared, the tools used for grinding and cooking, and service elements were given.

The 8^th grade student, Lena Ekizer, who continues her education in China, caught the attention of the guests when she grinded the beans in a corner with her small coffee grinder during the presentation. Institute employees emphasized that preparing coffee in traditional Turkish culture is a family ritual, and it turns into a festival attended by all family members.

After the presentation accompanied by the click of the coffee grinder, the guests had the opportunity to smell and taste the powder of the freshly ground coffee in the ewer.

In the second part of the event, the technique of cooking Turkish coffee in the sand in the handicraft workshop of the Cultural Center was explained. The guests cooked their own coffee under the guidance of Turkish citizen Hacer Bahadır, one of the Yunus Emre Institute volunteers.

“I FELT LIKE I WAS EXPERIENCING A CULTURE”

One of the guests of the program, Guo Lijun, the China-ZK Group Belt and Road Initiative Foreign Cooperation and Interaction Center official, explained his impressions of Turkish coffee with the following words:

“I felt like I was not only drinking coffee but experiencing a culture. While drinking coffee, I thought about the life people lived many years ago. Turkish coffee is pleasant to drink; it leaves a feeling of amalgamation on the palate and a combination of different flavors."

Lydia Li, a coffee instructor at Boom Coffee Academy in Beijing, said, "This has been an event that broke the ice for me. I've never been to Turkey before. We discuss Turkish coffee in our coffee trainings, but it is necessary to experience it firsthand in order to grasp the depth of a country's culture. Cultural sharing here provided this opportunity."

Expressing that he expected Turkish coffee to be darker, bitter and predominantly cinnamon and spice in terms of aroma, Li stated that he encountered a soft aroma and a fresh coffee scent. Li said that Turkish coffee has a pleasant aroma in which roasted hazelnuts and chocolate flavors are distinguished.

Beijing Yunus Emre Institute Director Tayfun Kalkan said that the promotional program was to increase the awareness of Turkish coffee in China and stressed that they aimed to ensure that Turkish coffee finds more place on the shelves, menus, and households by repeating similar promotions at coffee festivals and fairs, in special activities for coffee chains, cafes, and restaurants.