The annual event is a global homage to coffee’s journey from the farm to your local shop and an opportunity to honour the women and men who grow and harvest the adored product.

This year, 77 Member States of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) – which represents 98 per cent of world coffee production and 83 per cent of world consumption – will join with dozens of coffee associations from around the globe to mark the occasion. 

The theme for this edition is ‘Women in Coffee’.

Renowned for its coffee culture, Italy couldn’t miss out on celebrating its favourite beverage.

In Italy, Moleskine Café on Milan’s Corso Garibaldi is giving away a free cup of coffee with every brunch.

Diners can choose from a selection of four single origin coffees from Rwanda, Kenya, Nicaragua and Tanzania. 

Further south, in Tuscany, in the commune of Scarperia to be precise, coffee machine maker La Marzocco will hold an open discussion in the factory’s “Thinking Space”, focused on achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.

Mary Diamond, responsible for Marzocco’s Corporate Social Responsibility, will share the efforts the company is taking towards this direction to value female representatives within the industry and the company.

Meanwhile, half way across the world, Australia will have its own festivities in honour of coffee.

Wolff Coffee Roasters in Hendra, Queensland, will pay tribute to the integral role of women in the coffee industry, from farming and processing to trading and roasting, to brewing and tasting. 

Acknowledging that 50 per cent of their employees are women, Wolff is donating $1 from every cup sold to Women’s Legal Service Qld for Dancing CEOs. 

CEO Penny Wolff has accepted the challenge to be a Dancing CEO in 2019 and hopes to raise $20,000 for this pertinent cause to assist women experiencing domestic violence.

In Sydney, Tia Maria will unveil the World’s Largest Espresso Martini as part of a Guinness World Record attempt.

To be revealed at Cruise Bar, the giant cocktail will stand at 2.2 metres tall in a custom-made glass, and hold an impressive 600 litres, the equivalent of 5000 espresso martinis. 

The ingredients for the mammoth drink are: 286 bottles of Tia Maria Coffee Liqueur; 286 bottles of vodka; and 200 litres of Vittoria Coffee.

To celebrate the occasion in suitable style, Tia Maria has partnered with Vittoria Coffee to offer free coffees between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm at the venue. 

From 12:00 pm, eventgoers will be able to enjoy a complimentary espresso martini before experiencing the latest in coffee cocktail innovation with an exclusive menu of coffee cocktails of the future. 

Further down the coast in Eden, St George’s Uniting Church is holding a morning tea which will explore where coffee comes from.

Guests will be able to sample Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate, while there will be lots of fun activities for kids.

If you can’t make it to any of these events, pay tribute to coffee in your own way.

The ICO has suggested the following ideas:

 

  • Host a coffee cupping in your home, office, or local coffee shop
  • Run a promotion or discount offer in your coffee shop
  • Make a video about your love for coffee to upload to social media using the hashtag #InternationalCoffeeDay
  • Host a lecture with your local coffee expert
  • Run an art competition with coffee as the theme and hold an exhibition to display all the entries (photos, poems, short stories, paintings, any medium)
  • Host a coffee workshop or masterclass – perhaps an introduction to brewing techniques or roasting
  • Organise a visit to a coffee farm and/or washing station to get the general public interested in growing coffee
  • Start a fundraising campaign to benefit development programmes in a coffee-growing region
  • Have a screening of a coffee-related film