The 44 Yıl Hatır Kahve Konağı (44 Years of Memory Coffee Mansion) museum, founded by Yeşilyurt Municipality in eastern Malatya province, takes its visitors on a historical journey about one of today's most popular beverages. The museum was created in one of the authentic historical mansions in the district with the aim of handing down the tradition of Turkish coffee to future generations and introducing it to tourists. The 510 objects in the museum tell the history of the coffee culture and include items such as a 500-year-old mortar, coffee pot, cup, hand mill, roasting pans, scales, wooden spoons and Turkish delight containers.
The mansion hosting the coffee museum is one of more than a dozen historical mansions in the district, and the other mansions will also be converted into different types of museums, Yeşilyurt Mayor Mehmet Çınar told Anadolu Agency (AA).
“It is a big job, and we have been working on it for years," Çınar said. "It is a place where the most special pieces in Yeşilyurt are found. Products belonging to the coffee culture of both our country and different countries from the 16th century are on display in our museum. Normally, it is said that drinking a cup of Turkish coffee with a loved one has 40 years of unforgettable memories, but we named the museum 44 Years of Memory Coffee Mansion because of Malatya's plate number and the treats offered here... This is the new cultural destination center of Malatya," he said.
510 coffee-related objects
Recalling that objects collected from many places both within Turkey and abroad are exhibited in the museum, Çınar noted: “Our museum hosts 510 different objects related to coffee making. We are exhibiting all the objects we can find, from India to China, from various countries in Europe to the Ottoman Empire. It is a special place that houses many varieties, from primitive tools to modern tools used today."
"There are coffee grinding and cooking apparatuses, coffee pot varieties, cup varieties, Turkish delight containers, spoons, saucers and pots where coffee was stored dating back to the 16th century – in short, everything related to coffee – in our museum," he said.
"I am sure that each product is unique in its field and unique in the world. And the visitors will realize that," Çınar added.
Apricot seed coffee
Malatya is known for its apricot production, and visitors to the museum can try a special apricot seed coffee served there.
“We make apricot seed coffee in two varieties," the mayor said. "First, we make it from bitter apricot seeds. We serve it with or without milk. Second, we make it from apricot seeds that are not bitter. This is a special and unprecedented taste that we have developed with the municipality's R&D (research and development) department. This is a treat for our guests here. Our guests have enjoyed it well. Hopefully, we will popularize it."
