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Interesting facts

For all coffee lovers - do you know who was the first to bring coffee to Istria?

Did you know that there is a secret connection with coffee and Žminj? Does the name Primo Rovis sound familiar to you? This is a story about how Primo Rovis, a native of Žminj, became rich by importing coffee from Brazil and brought coffee to Žminj.

Rovis was born in 1922. in Žminj, and as a child he lost his parents and spent his childhood with his uncle. He had a hard life from an early age - as a boy he was beating rocks to rebuild roads. As a 25-year-old he went to Triest where he opened a small shop and later went to Brazil where he saw a chance in producing coffee which he imported to Triest. For many years he ran a coffee factory in the centre of Triest and founded the Crem caffé brand. He was a great benefactor. Although he got rich, he did not forget what it means to be hungry. Primo Rovis died in 2014 as a 91-year-old in Triest. Thanks to Rovis, today many people from Žminj can enjoy drinking coffee, but once real coffee was reserved only for gentlemen. At the beginning, the people consumed the so-called škandiel, as they call barley in Žminj, which was ground into broštulin - a hand-held coffee grinder. After some time, Divka came to the homes of many people from Žminj, which is made by frying chicory roots and barley. A morning without Divka was unthinkable. The most famous recipe from Žminj included - half of Divka, half of red wine and sugar in a large cup. The children were also looking for such coffee, but they would still get less red wine. Although today the city is unimaginable without cafeterias, once, not so long ago, coffee could be drunk only in your home. We can therefore thank Primo Rovis for bringing delicious coffee beans to our region.

You can taste the flavor of real Žminj coffee in numerous bars in Žminj!

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Turistička zajednica Općine Žminj
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