The story
Coffee did not start in Yemen, but Yemen is where it became a farmed crop and a traded one. World Coffee Research (WCR), a non-profit research group, says historical records show seeds were carried from the forests of south-western Ethiopia across the Red Sea to Yemen in the mid-1400s, where coffee was first grown as a commercial crop. From the 1700s, coffee from Yemen travelled the world on European trade routes. WCR describes Ethiopia as the place coffee came from and Yemen as the place that gave it to the world.
That is also where the name "Mocha" comes from. The importer Cafe Imports says the country's major port was Al Mokha, and that a plant from Yemen, probably of the variety known as Moka, reached Java and started the large Dutch plantations there. Cafe Imports adds that by the late 1600s Yemen was the dominant coffee producer of its day. Today "Mocha" or "Mokha" still turns up in the names of Yemeni coffees, though it now points to the history rather than to where the coffee is shipped from.
Yemen's coffee also matters to scientists. A 2020 study backed by WCR confirmed with genetic testing that Yemen was the second point from which arabica spread, and WCR says nearly all arabica grown outside Ethiopia descends from those early Yemeni farms. A further study in 2021 found a group of trees with genetic material not seen elsewhere, which its authors called the "New-Yemen" cluster. WCR notes that none of the cultivated varieties in that study belonged to the group, and that some of it may yet turn up in parts of Ethiopia that have not been sampled.
The farms themselves are unusual. In a guide reproduced by Coffee Review, the writer Kenneth Davids describes coffee grown on terraces built into dry mountainsides below old stone villages. Sweet Maria's, a green-coffee seller, says that in the Haraz area all coffee is grown on terraces because there is so little flat land. Cafe Imports puts the typical farm at a quarter of a hectare to one hectare, with about 600,000 people involved in coffee.
The best-known market names come from the mountains west of the capital, Sana'a. Coffee Review explains that Matari means coffee from Bani Matar, a very high district just south-west of Sana'a; Haraz is grown in the next range of mountains to the west; and Hayma, or Haymah, lies west of Sana'a, just north of Bani Matar. "Sanani" usually means a blend from several areas west of the capital. Cafe Imports also lists Bani Hammad, Bura'a and Haimateen among its growing regions. Regional names in Yemen are loose, though: Davids notes that a trader's "Ismaili" coffee could mean the Bani Ismail district, a tree of that name, or both.
Growing coffee there is hard. Cafe Imports says water is scarce and much of it goes to qat, a stimulant plant that has replaced coffee on many farms. It also says ongoing political conflict makes exporting difficult and pushes green-coffee prices well above those of other origins.
How it's processed
A coffee bean is the seed inside a small fruit called a cherry. In Yemen the usual method is the natural process, where the whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Cafe Imports lists natural as the processing method for Yemen, and Coffee Review says most Yemeni coffees are still made this way.
Davids describes the traditional routine: in autumn the air turns dry, and the ripe fruit is picked and spread in the sun on the roofs of stone houses. Once dry, the shrivelled husk was traditionally removed with a millstone, which he says is why many Yemeni beans look rough and uneven. The broken husks are not wasted. They are boiled with spices to make a sweet drink Yemenis call quishr.
Some exporters are refining the method. Cafe Imports says that besides traditional naturals dried on the tree, it pays a premium for ripe-picked cherries that are dried on raised beds, which it says gives a cleaner cup without the earthy taste tree-drying can leave.
The importer gives the harvest as October to March.
What it tastes like
Yemeni coffee tends to taste deep and fruity at the same time. Cafe Imports says the varieties grown in the dry climate and full sun lean towards deep chocolate tones, while the natural process adds a winey quality. Its raised-bed lots, it says, can taste clean, with big fruit that is almost like nectar.
Recent Coffee Review tasting notes for Yemeni coffees mention dried fig, date, dark chocolate, spice and a winey acidity. These describe single lots, though, so the notes on each coffee are a better guide than any country-wide rule.
The common varieties are local ones. Cafe Imports names Dawairi, Jaadi and Tuffahi; Davids notes that names like Ismaili are also used for trees, often loosely.