Caffelab YEMEN Bani Ismail

Description

Entirely cultivated and worked by hand

Each small farm, almost always family-run, contributes to the creation of this special lot. This coffee is entirely grown and processed by hand.  The altitude and location of the plantations make it impossible to use any type of vehicle, machinery or heavy tool. 

Farmers wake up very early with a picturesque view above the clouds, the temperature reaches a maximum of 15 ° in the morning in the summer months, and in winter it even drops below zero.

After a typical breakfast on the farm, which can consist of homemade round bread called Khubz, eggs, and beans, and of course, a cup of traditional tea or coffee to keep them warm for the long day they are ready to begin the harvesting process.

A process that requires competence, patience, and love to ensure that the fruit is harvested at the ideal degree of ripeness. Once harvested, they are placed in large baskets made of intertwined palm leaves carried on the shoulders and versed and on drying beds for 14 days to dry.

The peels of the cherries are kept during drying, intensifying the taste absorbed by the grain inside which, depending on the variety, can recall sweet honey, flowers, or citrus fruits.

Once dried, the coffee is separated from the peel of the fruit. At this point, it is almost ready to be placed in the sacks and transported down the mountain on the back of a donkey or camel.

The recent civil war has severely limited production and made it very difficult to export coffee to the rest of the world.  Many current coffee producers have been working in the city for several years and due to the war have had to go back to their roots, farming the lands of their fathers and grandfathers to make a living on coffee.

Naturally Organic

This coffee is naturally organic, without the use of chemicals. What makes coffee so special is the care, attention, and hard work it put into the cultivation. From cultivation, harvesting, and drying, the process has remained unique over the last 500 years.

A cup of coffee with an intense and complex aroma: Tropical fruit, citrus but also sweet spices such as cinnamon. A unique coffee, with balanced acidity, a creamy body, and a pleasant chocolate aftertaste.