Our Yemeni coffees have had quite a voyage to make their way to our offerings list: Yemen has been in the grips of a devastating civil war for several years, which of course makes coffee importing seem like the least-important issue, but being able to provide a continual source of income for farmers during times of political strife can have a significant impact on their livelihoods and, in some small way, make an impact on the country's agricultural sector as a whole.

In order to ensure the security of this coffee, our export partner warehouses the coffee in Egypt after milling before shipping to our warehouses on ocean freight—a circuitous route, but in our opinion worth the trouble and expense—not simply because the coffee is delicious, but also because taking its context into consideration.

A premium has been paid by our export partner to the Yemeni coffee farmers for selective picking and quality of cup. There are hundreds of producers who contribute coffee to this lot, as coffee farming in Yemen is mostly done in "gardens" or at least garden-size plots, some producing no more than a few scant kilos of cherries per year. The political situation and a longstanding water crisis, as well as the bulk of the nation's agricultural resources being diverted to growing the stimulant plantqat, has caused a deep decline in the coffee production here, in what used to be the world's foremost and most sought-after coffee-growing nation.

However, as we’ve seen from other coffee-growing regions' recovery from political or martial turmoil—such as in Rwanda and Honduras—high-quality specialty coffee can be a positive and productive element of economic and social rebuilding. We hope the same will be true for the beautiful people and the marvelous coffee of Yemen.

For more information about coffee production in Yemen, visit our Yemen Origin Page.