Yemen Haraaz

Haraaz is a rocky, mountainous region of Yemen known for being one of the primary origins of coffee before the 17th century. Yemen's production isn't near the volume of the past, and the terrain doesn't seem to be friendly to coffee. However, farmers for generations have been terracing the mountains to grow coffees that are unique in profile when harvested and processed carefully. Most of Yemen lies in the border zone between two main weather patterns: the regular northerly winds (from the Mediterranean basin) and the southwest monsoon winds. Northerly winds predominate during the winter, while in the summer the southwest monsoon brings the primary rains.

Natural processing is the most traditional and most common form of processing in Yemen, and while historically coffees were dried by producers on rooftops and on backyard plots, today more and more specialty-coffee producers are focusing on high-quality processing by delivering ripe coffee cherries to a centralized mill. Cherries are first sorted for ripeness and quality before being rinsed clean of dirt, then they are spread on raised drying beds or tables, where they will be rotated constantly throughout the course of drying. Drying can take up to 35 days, depending on the weather.

The future of coffees from Yemen is somewhat uncertain, but the profile and the history alone create high demand and great affection for good specialty coffees from here. The varieties grown in the somewhat arid climate here and under full sun tend toward more deep chocolate tones, but the Natural processing contributes a dynamic winey characteristic that gives dimension and nuance.