ATHENS – Perhaps next to only evading taxes, another Greek passion – coffee – will have a chance to show off when the country’s capital hosts Europe’s biggest event for the specialty many people can’t live without.

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) said that its 2021 World of Coffee show is coming to the Greek capital as part of the Athens Metropolitan Expo from June 24-26, an event that draws coffee lovers from all over.

The SCA, a world group made up mostly of coffee professionals from the United States and Europe said the event has more than tripled in size over the past six years, growing to more than 11,000 visitors and 240 exhibitors at the 2019 event in Berlin, said Daily Coffee News.

The event in Athens will also host the 2021 World Barista Championship, the World Cezve/Ibrik Championship, and World Cup Tasters Championship, where hundreds of national winners will compete.

“The volunteers and staff of the SCA who make World of Coffee possible are delighted to return to Greece in 2021,” SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos said, the coffee news site reported.

“Greece is a country with a thriving specialty coffee community, as exemplified in the work and activities of the volunteers who run the SCA Greece Chapter. We look forward to working with the Athens Metropolitan Expo to execute a world-class event and welcome the global specialty community to Athens,” he added.

Despite being a small country, Greece has ranked among the world leaders in the amount of coffee consumed per capita as Greeks love taking their time drinking it – both traditional Greek and filtered coffees as well as the ubiquitous cold frappe – a habit generally shared with friends at a table.