DHAHRAN: Coffee is hitting the spotlight at Ithra’s Cultural Oasis to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s National Day.
The Saudi Coffee Experience, which is in the outdoor space at the event and is free to enter, promises a tasty sensory journey.
Visitors first see a small stage with a potted plant to illustrate how the coffee bean appears when it is gently twisted off. The stage is painted purple, a color Saudi Arabia has adopted to signify those found in nature.
The next stage contains different coffee pitchers, or dallahs, the oldest of which is from Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province, and the final stage features the roasting and tasting.
There are five small tables in the back, each dedicated to the regions where the coffees come from.
The north, south, east, west and central regions have distinctive tastes, and tiny cups are available for people to sample the drinks.
Mashari Khaled Al-Rasheed, one of the coffee experts on hand, told Arab News: “We have the journey of Saudi coffee here, in these different stations, from the bean until the taste.
“Aramco has provided a great irrigation initiative and training for 500 farmers in the southern region of the Kingdom, where the beans are grown.
“The bean itself could come from another country but it’s considered Saudi coffee by the way it’s roasted. It makes a difference if you say it’s Saudi-grown coffee or Saudi coffee.
“It’s actually a very complex process that includes very specific timing under a very certain temperature.
“Saudi coffee is known for being lighter. Even the darker roast is considered light in the coffee world.”
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest consumers of the drink, and achieving self-sufficiency in its production, in accordance with the plans of Vision 2030 to diversify the country’s economy, is considered vital.
The Ministry of Culture last December designated 2022 “The Year of Saudi Coffee,” and visitors can taste the product at the Cultural Oasis from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. until Sept. 24.
