history
300 years ago, Yemen was the world's only coffee exporter, and its glorious appearance was only comparable to that of the mysterious Eastern power, the world's only tea exporter at that time, Daqing.
However, the 17th century was already the peak of Yemen's coffee production, and now Yemen is no longer glorious.
status quo
Yemen is currently in the midst of civil unrest, with Houthi armed groups and Arab forces fighting each other. Since January 2016, at least 56,000 civilians and combatants in Yemen have been killed in armed violence. The war caused famine to 17 million people.
At present, the production and transportation of coffee beans is seriously affected by frequent water shortages, inaccessible transportation and lack of support for infrastructure systems.
Yemen's annual export of coffee beans
2012: 57,530 sacks
2013: 55,060 sacks
2014: 20,080 sacks
2015: 8,360 sacks
2016: 0 sacks
mocha
Today's mocha refers to a milk coffee drink with chocolate added to it, but at first, mocha referred to the port of Yemen, which was a prestigious coffee export center, and the European and Middle Eastern markets were the main export destinations. At that time, Mocha coffee referred to coffee exported through the port of Mocha.
recovery
Founded in 2016 and originally sourced from 30 farmers in a small community, Qima today works with more than 2,600 farmers in 53 communities in Yemen and is the only specialty coffee operator in Yemen with a full channel and the country's largest specialty coffee exporter. Qima is committed to restoring Yemen to its former glory as a world-renowned producer of fine coffee.
Yemen Nia
The Arabica coffee beans we are familiar with can be divided into four matriarchal lines, namely: Ethiopian germline, Typica Bourbon, SL-34 and SL-17.
On August 14, 2020, QIMA Coffee announced the discovery of a new parent population, YEMENIA (Yemenia), which means that Arabica still has an untapped genetic ocean, the flavor spectrum can be further expanded, and Arabica's disease resistance can be further strengthened. The top 2020 and 2021 Yemeni coffee auctions were all Yemeni varieties, illustrating the quality of this variety and its value in the specialty coffee market.
Wild scent
Yemen's terrain is rugged, with undulating mountains, coffee trees planted on terraced fields and dried on the roofs or balconies of homes. Coupled with the severe lack of water in Yemen, coffee farmers basically do not take the water washing treatment method, and what is more, let the coffee cherries dry naturally on the trees, and dehydrate them into purple and black before they are collected. This creates the wild aroma of Yemeni coffee, and if you like the fermented fruit flavor of coffee and don't like it too bright and clean, yemeni coffee is especially worth a try.
Coffee culture
Located in the influence circle of Arab culture, Yemenis drink coffee in the way Turkish coffee is brewed: coffee is roasted to medium or deep roasting, using a very fine grinding degree, coffee powder mixed with room temperature water, boiled and can be drunk, and does not deliberately filter the residue. Ali, a Yemeni who came to the academy as a guest, said: The first cup of coffee poured out will be given to the distinguished guests, because the most grease is the best, and the last cup of coffee grounds is the most, which will be left to himself. This drinking method will be taken in conjunction with fine coffee powder, and the alcohol thickness is extremely high.