diff --git a/BUILD b/BUILD
index c5ddedd..dca6dc1 100644
--- a/BUILD
+++ b/BUILD
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-load("//tools/bzl:plugin.bzl", "gerrit_plugin")
+load("//tools/bzl:junit.bzl", "junit_tests")
+load(
+    "//tools/bzl:plugin.bzl",
+    "PLUGIN_DEPS",
+    "PLUGIN_TEST_DEPS",
+    "gerrit_plugin",
+)
 
 gerrit_plugin(
     name = "kafka-events",
@@ -14,3 +20,22 @@
         "@kafka_client//jar",
     ],
 )
+
+junit_tests(
+    name = "kafka_events_tests",
+    srcs = glob(["src/test/java/**/*.java"]),
+    tags = ["kafka-events"],
+    deps = [
+        ":kafka-events__plugin_test_deps",
+        "@kafka_client//jar",
+    ],
+)
+
+java_library(
+    name = "kafka-events__plugin_test_deps",
+    testonly = 1,
+    visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+    exports = PLUGIN_DEPS + PLUGIN_TEST_DEPS + [
+        ":kafka-events__plugin",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/config/KafkaProperties.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/config/KafkaProperties.java
index ad79bca..f5782b7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/config/KafkaProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/config/KafkaProperties.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     put("buffer.memory", 33554432);
     put("key.serializer", KAFKA_STRING_SERIALIZER);
     put("value.serializer", KAFKA_STRING_SERIALIZER);
+    put("reconnect.backoff.ms", 5000L);
   }
 
   private void applyConfig(PluginConfig config) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/EventConsumerIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/EventConsumerIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..997428e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/kafka/EventConsumerIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2018 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.kafka;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.GerritConfig;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.LightweightPluginDaemonTest;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.NoHttpd;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.PushOneCommit;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.TestPlugin;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.UseLocalDisk;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.changes.ReviewInput;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.common.ChangeMessageInfo;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.events.CommentAddedEvent;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.events.Event;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.events.EventDeserializer;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.events.SupplierDeserializer;
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.kafka.config.KafkaProperties;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.Consumer;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerRecord;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerRecords;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.KafkaConsumer;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/*
+ * This tests assumes that Kafka server is running on: localhost:9092.
+ * Alternatively, testcontainers library can be used to set up dockerized
+ * Kafka instance from withing JUnit test.
+ */
+@NoHttpd
+@TestPlugin(name = "kafka-events", sysModule = "com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.kafka.Module")
+public class EventConsumerIT extends LightweightPluginDaemonTest {
+  static final long KAFKA_POLL_TIMEOUT = 10000L;
+
+  @Test
+  @UseLocalDisk
+  @GerritConfig(name = "plugin.kafka-events.bootstrapServers", value = "localhost:9092")
+  @GerritConfig(name = "plugin.kafka-events.groupId", value = "test-consumer-group")
+  @GerritConfig(
+      name = "plugin.kafka-events.keyDeserializer",
+      value = "org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringDeserializer")
+  @GerritConfig(
+      name = "plugin.kafka-events.valueDeserializer",
+      value = "org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringDeserializer")
+  public void consumeEvents() throws Exception {
+    PushOneCommit.Result r = createChange();
+
+    ReviewInput in = ReviewInput.recommend();
+    in.message = "LGTM";
+    gApi.changes().id(r.getChangeId()).revision("current").review(in);
+    List<ChangeMessageInfo> messages =
+        new ArrayList<>(gApi.changes().id(r.getChangeId()).get().messages);
+    assertThat(messages).hasSize(2);
+    String expectedMessage = "Patch Set 1: Code-Review+1\n\nLGTM";
+    assertThat(messages.get(1).message).isEqualTo(expectedMessage);
+
+    KafkaProperties kafkaProperties = kafkaProperties();
+    List<String> events = new ArrayList<>();
+    try (Consumer<String, String> consumer = new KafkaConsumer<>(kafkaProperties)) {
+      consumer.subscribe(Collections.singleton(kafkaProperties.getTopic()));
+      ConsumerRecords<String, String> records = consumer.poll(KAFKA_POLL_TIMEOUT);
+      for (ConsumerRecord<String, String> record : records) {
+        events.add(record.value());
+      }
+    }
+
+    // The received 6 events in order:
+    //
+    // 1. refUpdate:        ref: refs/sequences/changes
+    // 2. refUpdate:        ref: refs/changes/01/1/1
+    // 3. refUpdate:        ref: refs/changes/01/1/meta
+    // 4. patchset-created: ref: refs/changes/01/1/1
+    // 5. refUpdate:        ref: refs/changes/01/1/meta"
+    // 6. comment-added:    ref: refs/heads/master
+    assertThat(events).hasSize(6);
+    String commentAddedEventJson = events.get(5);
+
+    Gson gson =
+        new GsonBuilder()
+            .registerTypeAdapter(Event.class, new EventDeserializer())
+            .registerTypeAdapter(Supplier.class, new SupplierDeserializer())
+            .create();
+    Event event = gson.fromJson(commentAddedEventJson, Event.class);
+    assertThat(event).isInstanceOf(CommentAddedEvent.class);
+
+    CommentAddedEvent commentAddedEvent = (CommentAddedEvent) event;
+    assertThat(commentAddedEvent.comment).isEqualTo(expectedMessage);
+  }
+
+  private KafkaProperties kafkaProperties() {
+    return plugin.getSysInjector().getInstance(KafkaProperties.class);
+  }
+}