PHOTOS: Erbil hosting chocolate, coffee exhibition 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region capital Erbil launched a chocolate and coffee exhibition on Wednesday. 

The three-day-long exhibition, situated at the entrance of Shanadar Park, will begin each day at 10 am until early evening, organizers told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday. 

The exhibition features several brands of chocolate and coffee from various regional and international brands. 

The most popular caffeinated drink in the Kurdistan Region and its capital is black tea. However, the number of coffee drinkers in the autonomous region increased in recent years as more international brands entered its markets.

Furthermore, more coffee shops and vendors have opened in Erbil in recent years as the Kurdish capital’s youth look for entrepreneurial initiatives to secure an income. 

Before the rise in popularity of coffee shops and Western-style restaurants, the Kurdistan Region’s tea houses were the favorite rendezvous for many to discuss pressing societal issues.

Despite the influx of Arabic and other international coffee brands, Kurdish people have recently embraced drinking terebinth coffee, locally known as “Qazwan”. 

A Kurdish university lecturer recently argued that the beverage should be called “Kurdish coffee” as it was originally produced in the Turkish Kurdistan’s Bitlis region before the establishment of the Turkish republic. 

Read More: University lecturer calls for renaming terebinth coffee ‘Kurdish coffee’