STiR coffee and tea magazine

44 STiR coffee and tea | 2025 Quarter 4 Winter (Dec/Jan/Feb) Yemeni farmers were some of the first to cultivate coffee commercially, using a unique terracing method that takes advantage of the country's mountainous terrain. Photo credit: Mocha Hunters Yemeni farmers and exporters used to store and ship green coffee beans in porous burlap sacks, which caused mold and spoilage, but now use hermetically sealed bags to preserve quality, aroma, and flavor. Photo credit: Mocha Hunters Mocha Hunters have three professional cuppers. In the past 12 months, they've tasted nearly 2,000 samples — only seven scored below 80 points. The rest scored above 80, and the ma- jority were around 87, clearly demonstrating that Yemeni coffee is inherently a specialty coffee. All they need now is to improve postharvest processing for some lots. "Fortunately, many traders have recently invested in state- of-the-art hulling and sorting facilities, significantly improving the quality of coffee, especially for export," Ahmed empha- sized. "However, what concerns me deeply is the growing trend among some producers to ferment Yemeni coffee using anaero- bic processing. This, in my opinion, is a mistake — Yemeni cof- fee is naturally beautiful and doesn't need fermentation. While fermentation might work well for coffees from other regions, I believe Yemeni coffee is best in its natural form." Flavor engineering can often ruin the experience for true coffee lovers. These practices have emerged due to skyrocketing demand, especially from neighboring countries like Saudi Ara- bia, where this flavor profile is currently popular. Ahmed hopes this is just a passing trend. Growing International and Domestic Markets Moving coffee from remote villages to international markets is costly and complex. The beans must endure long, arduous jour- neys, through military checkpoints and combat zones, across deserts and seas, almost akin to smuggling contraband. On average, around 60% of Yemeni coffee green beans (in- cluding commercial, specialty, and qishr) are destined for ex- port, leaving around 40% for the domestic market. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Yemen exported $20.2 million worth of coffee in 2023. The main destinations were Saudi Arabia ($12.5 million), the US ($2.52 million), Japan ($1.64 million), Oman ($866,000), and the UAE ($740,000). "A major export challenge is financial transfers," Ahmed noted. "Many coffee-producing areas are under banking restric- tions, which means we often have to rely on financial intermedi- aries or even cryptocurrencies to bring money into Yemen — it feels as if we're moving forbidden funds because of the high fees and regulations." Thanks to Yemenis living abroad, demand for Yemeni cof- fee, both domestic and international, is growing. "In Sana'a alone, there are around 20 specialty cafés. Across Yemen, the number may be 100 or slightly more. But what's truly astonish- ing is that Yemenis in the US have opened hundreds of specialty cafés, all serving Yemeni coffee — and that number continues to grow rapidly," he added. The Monk of Mokha Mokhtar Alkhanshali is the person responsible for introduc- ing specialty Yemeni coffee to the US café market through his brand, Port of Mokha. His work has been described as the spark that ignited the Yemeni coffee revolution. Alkhanshali is also the hero of The Monk of Mokha, a 2018 nonfiction bestseller by Dave Eggers, which follows Alkhanshali's epic quest to bring single-origin Yemeni coffee to the US. This year, Al-Khanshali Estate coffee just sold for $400 per kilo at the Dubai Coffee Auction, setting a new benchmark for Yemeni coffee. Other significant export drivers are the Yemeni Coffee Auc- tion and Sana'a International Coffee Exhibition. The Best of Yemen Auction returned for its seventh edition on September 18, 2025, in collaboration with the Alliance for Coffee Excel- lence — when 33 exceptional batches of the most distinctive, high-impact coffees were showcased. Resilience in the Face of Adversity Yemen's coffee renaissance is a testament to resilience in the face of extraordinary adversity. Despite enduring ongoing civil conflict, navigating a fragmented governance system, bearing high taxation burdens, and facing steep production costs, Ye- meni coffee stakeholders have carved out a place in premium global markets. This movement is reshaping the entire value chain. While the challenges remain formidable — from banking restrictions to the trend toward flavor engineering that threatens Yemeni coffee's naturally distinctive character — the numbers tell a compelling story: Yemen's ancient coffee legacy is undergoing a revival — not despite the obstacles, but in defiance of them.

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