Yemen - Ameen Ghaleb Al Duram

Constantly beset by challenges beyond their control — from socio-economic upheavals to environmental constraints — Yemen's coffee-farming families persevere in perpetuating their forefathers' agricultural heritage.

They resiliently tend to coffee trees that grow across terraces clinging to the steep and arid yet fertile highland terrains, like in the picturesque Haraz region in the Sana'a Governorate. Their cherries capture singularly extraordinary, sweet, and nuanced notes not found elsewhere, and coffee is their primary, if not only, source of livelihood.

Haraz, at the forefront of Yemeni specialty coffee production, is known for its peerless landscapes. It is endearingly referred to as "the land above the clouds" because of its high elevation amid the Sarat mountain range, which is home to Jabal An-Nabi Shu’ayb, the highest mountain in the peninsula, and the critically endangered Arabian Leopard.

Apart from the high altitudes, its location — some 150 km inland from the Red Sea’s primary port of Al-Hudaydah, parallel to the eastern coast of the Red Sea and with the Gulf of Aiden to the south — also contributes to the beneficial microclimates of the region.

Due to its arduous topography, Haraz has remained beyond the reach of nonconstructive outside influences. As such, their people have been able to preserve their unique, indigenous culture — most evident in the architecture dating back to the Sulajhid dynasty in the 11th century — as well as their ancient cultivation traditions.

Ameen Ghaleb Al-Darm, aged 50, and his entire family are deeply committed to the production of higher-end specialty coffee, while maintaining a modest crop of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes, for their family’s consumption.

Cognizant that their continued sustenance rests upon keeping their land well-nourished while achieving the desired level of productivity, they regularly undertake the considerable journey of 189 km to procure organic fertilizers available only in the Tihama region. Since coffee cultivation is the core of Ameen and his family’s livelihood, they have determined that the effort and expense to obtain these particularly nutrient-rich and environment-friendly farming inputs are well worth it.

To bring recognition and better opportunities to coffee farmers like Ameen, Sheba Coffee was founded in 2019 by members of the Yemeni diaspora committed to harnessing their resources and connections to foster a stable and flourishing Yemeni coffee sector. Their ultimate aim is to help bring ease to Yemeni farmers’ lives and establish unshakeable roots of stability by strengthening their capacity to sustainably produce excellent coffees, whose value is highly regarded and materially rewarded by specialty coffee connoisseurs worldwide.

Jadi is one of the numerous vernacular names used to identify Yemeni coffee varieties. It is associated with coffee trees in the Sana’a Governorate, with wavy leaves and whose cherries are clustered closely together. It is lesser known than the most widely recognized Udaini variety, prominently associated with coffees from the Ibb Governorate. The discrete identity and specific attributes of coffees referred to as Jadi, along with the array of Yemeni varieities, have yet to be determined according to a recent 2022 MDPI Agronomy study.

In the experience of Sheba Coffee working with Haraz-grown cherries, Jadi flavor profiles are inclined toward complex acidity and high sweetness, rich berry, and dried fruit nuances, accompanied by a winey character.

For this nano-lot, Ameen and his family selectively hand-picked the reddest cherries, passing each tree multiple times every week during the harvest season to make sure the cherries are picked only at the desired ripeness level. They plucked the cherries off the trees gently and with utmost care to ensure the quality of each cherry was not compromised and that the coffee plants remained unharmed in order to protect its potential yield in subsequent seasons.

These perfectly ripe cherries were then transported to Sheba’s processing center, where they were cleaned and sorted, by way of flotation, before they being taken further into the post-harvest processing steps of fermentation and drying.

In this case, fermentation was done first by placing the cherries in hermetic bags for a brief duration and then interrupting the anaerobic fermentation by taking the cherries out of the bags and transferring them to a greenhouse for a similar amount of time. By suspending the anaerobic fermentation in this way, Sheba Coffee was able to enhance the coffee’s distinct cup profile.

The cherries were then placed back into the hermetic bags for another short duration to continue the anaerobic fermentation. After that, they were returned to the greenhouse — already twice fermented — in order to slow-dry before finally being taken to raised beds to dry directly under the sun.

During the two to three-week drying phase, the cherries were regularly turned to stabilize moisture and ensure consistent ventilation, leading to even drying and consequently only desirable sensorial attributes in the cup.