RIYADH: Ramadan visitors to a historic Saudi landmark are being offered the chance to learn the secrets to making the perfect cup of coffee.
The Diriyah Gate Development Authority is running coffee workshops at the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site in Riyadh throughout the holy month of fasting.
The sessions, being held weekly from Thursday to Saturday, show participants the art of producing traditional Saudi coffee.
An optional part of a walking tour of the At-Turaif district, visitors to the tented workshop — that overlooks At-Turaif and Bujairi Terrace — are greeted with a cup of Najdi coffee before the session starts.
Abdulrahman Al-Shahri, a Saudi coffee expert from the Ministry of Culture, described the coffee of Najd people as “uniquely characterized by the color of roasted coffee, with the addition of two to three types of species, including saffron, cardamon, and cloves.”
The workshops guide visitors through the steps for making authentic Saudi coffee, from the initial roasting of the beans to serving, a process that takes around one hour. Once the beans have been roasted and cooled, they are ground using a traditional tool.
Al-Shahri said: “The workshops aim to highlight the heritage of Saudi coffee and give visitors a view of how it is made. Saudi coffee is internationally recognized and is now accredited by the (EU) Council of Ministers.
“We are providing this workshop because many young visitors and expats do not know how Saudi coffee is made, and we are trying to distinguish it by the way it is made, and the special spices added to the coffee.”
The Ministry of Culture designated 2022 as The Year of Saudi Coffee.