Yemen Bani Al-Areef

The coffee and process

Yemen, recognized as the first region to cultivate coffee in the 15th century, produces coffee on small terraced farms in mountainous areas at altitudes of 1600-2100 masl. Coffee from Yemen, especially from the historic port of Al-Makha, is known for its bright, fruity notes and syrupy body. However, current production is significantly lower than its 19th-century peak.

Mocha Mill, a pioneer in Yemeni specialty coffee since 2014, has navigated challenges including civil war to establish supply chains across six regions and a dry mill in Samat. Their efforts have resulted in exporting around 10 containers of specialty coffee globally. They focus on educating local farmers, predominantly women, on best practices to enhance coffee quality and yield, promoting sustainability amidst water scarcity issues through innovative irrigation and dry processing techniques.

In the Haraz region, known for its coffee cultivation heritage, Mocha Mill works with around 2000 farmers, emphasising high-quality coffee production through training and direct support. The region hosts several collection stations, and Mocha Mill has established a wet mill for processing fresh cherries.

Beni Al-Areef, a village in Haraz, is home to over twenty thousand coffee trees cultivated by twenty farmers who rely on coffee as their primary income source. Coffee cultivation here continues traditionally without modern machinery for cultivation, irrigation, or harvesting.

Mocha Mill also employs the Carbonic Maceration process for fermentation, enhancing the coffee's flavour profile through a controlled environment before sun and shade drying the beans, emphasising quality control throughout the production and processing stages.