diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4f409f9..35cca5a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -101,3 +101,17 @@ producer = Hermann::Producer.new('topic', kafka_broker_ids)
 promise = producer.push("foo")  # returns Concurrent::Promise
 promise.value!
 ```
+
+### Integration Testing
+
+* Download Kafka
+* Start Zookeeper
+ * set port 2181
+* Start Kafka
+  * Set properties file ```zookeeper.connect=localhost:2181```
+* bundle exec jruby -S rspec spec/integration
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/hermann.gemspec b/hermann.gemspec
index 73c5d78..d72c5cd 100644
--- a/hermann.gemspec
+++ b/hermann.gemspec
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_dependency "zk", "~> 1.9.4"
 
   if RUBY_PLATFORM == "java"
+    #IMPORTANT: make sure that jar-dependencies is only a development dependency of your gem. if it is a runtime dependencies the require_jars file will be overwritten during installation.
     s.add_dependency 'jar-dependencies', '~>0.1.2'
     s.add_development_dependency 'ruby-maven', '~> 3.1.1.0'
     s.add_development_dependency 'rake'
diff --git a/lib/hermann/consumer.rb b/lib/hermann/consumer.rb
index fa32518..d805bd2 100644
--- a/lib/hermann/consumer.rb
+++ b/lib/hermann/consumer.rb
@@ -38,8 +38,18 @@ module Hermann
       end
     end
 
+    # Delegates the consume method to internal consumer classes
     def consume(topic=nil, &block)
       @internal.consume(topic, &block)
     end
+
+    # Delegates the shutdown of kafka messages threads to internal consumer classes
+    def shutdown
+      if Hermann.jruby?
+        @internal.shutdown
+      else
+        #no op
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/hermann/provider/java_simple_consumer.rb b/lib/hermann/provider/java_simple_consumer.rb
index 6c6dc52..9f1447e 100644
--- a/lib/hermann/provider/java_simple_consumer.rb
+++ b/lib/hermann/provider/java_simple_consumer.rb
@@ -37,6 +37,13 @@ module Hermann
         @do_retry    = opts.delete(:do_retry)   || true
       end
 
+      # Shuts down the various threads created by createMessageStreams
+      # This can be called after the thread executing consume has exited
+      # to clean up.
+      def shutdown
+        @consumer.shutdown
+      end
+
       # Starts infinite loop to consume messages. hasNext() blocks until a
       # message is available at which point it is yielded to the block
       #
diff --git a/spec/consumer_spec.rb b/spec/consumer_spec.rb
index 7cf6754..3b8b3e1 100644
--- a/spec/consumer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/consumer_spec.rb
@@ -37,19 +37,38 @@ describe Hermann::Consumer do
         it_behaves_like 'an error condition'
       end
     end
+
+    describe '#shutdown' do
+      it 'does nothing' do
+        expect(consumer.shutdown).to be nil
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   context 'on Jruby', :platform => :java do
     subject(:consumer) { described_class.new(topic, groupId, zookeepers) }
 
-    let(:zookeepers)  { 'localhost:2181' }
+    let(:zookeepers) { 'localhost:2181' }
     let(:groupId)    { 'groupId' }
     let(:do_retry)   { true }
     let(:sleep_time) { 1 }
+    let(:internal)   { double('Hermann::Provider::JavaSimpleConsumer')}
+
+    before do
+      allow(Hermann::ConsumerUtil::Consumer).to receive(:createJavaConsumerConnector).with(any_args) { double }
+    end
 
     it 'creates a Hermann::Provider::JavaSimpleConsumer' do
-      allow(Hermann::ConsumerUtil::Consumer).to receive(:createJavaConsumerConnector).with(any_args) { double }
       expect(subject.internal).to be_a(Hermann::Provider::JavaSimpleConsumer)
     end
+
+    describe '#shutdown' do
+      let(:result) { double('NoClass') }
+      it 'calls shutdown' do
+        consumer.instance_variable_set(:@internal, internal)
+        allow(internal).to receive(:shutdown) { result }
+        expect(consumer.shutdown).to eq result
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/integration/producer_spec.rb b/spec/integration/producer_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6d3e0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/integration/producer_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'hermann/producer'
+require 'hermann/consumer'
+require 'hermann/discovery/zookeeper'
+require 'concurrent'
+
+class ConsumerTest
+  def create_consumer
+    zookeeper = "localhost:2181"
+    groupId   = "group1"
+    topic     = 'test'
+
+    consumer = Hermann::Consumer.new(topic, groupId, zookeeper)
+
+    consumer.consume(topic) do |msg|
+      if msg == 'msg'
+        consumer.shutdown
+        return true
+      end
+    end
+    false
+  end
+end
+
+describe 'producer' do
+  include_context 'integration test context'
+
+  let(:message)   { 'msg' }
+
+  it 'produces and consumes messages', :type => :integration do
+    test_consumer = Concurrent::Promise.execute { ConsumerTest.new.create_consumer }
+    broker_ids = Hermann::Discovery::Zookeeper.new(zookeepers).get_brokers
+    producer = Hermann::Producer.new(nil, broker_ids)
+    producer.push(message, :topic => topic).wait(1)
+    expect(test_consumer.value(1)).to be true
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 75c72c4..33d6ab7 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ RSpec.configure do |c|
   shared_context 'integration test context', :type => :integration do
     let(:topic) { $integrationconf['kafka']['topic'] }
     let(:brokers) { $integrationconf['kafka']['brokers'] }
+    let(:zookeepers) { $integrationconf['zookeepers'] }
   end
 end