Description
Yemen Mokha Matari trades on contrast: date-bar sweetness and pumpkin-bread comfort meet pistachio richness, chai spice, and inky cocoa—flavors born on Bani Matari’s terraced peaks and shipped through a Red Sea gauntlet where Houthi missiles have recently sunk cargo vessels.
Flavor snapshot
City + roasts highlight chewy date syrup and pumpkin bread; mid-palate pistachio lends a savory undercurrent; chai spice brightens the cup before a long inky-cocoa finish. The profile stays intact through Full City, gaining bittersweet depth without losing the dried-fruit core.
Origin & processing
- Region: Bani Matari, Sana’a Governorate, Yemen—altitude 2,000 to 2,400 meters where old-growth heirloom Arabica trees cling to stone terraces.
- Producers: ≈100 smallholder families, each with ~1,000 trees on less than 0.5 acre lots.
- Process: dry-processed; cherries patio- and raised-bed-dried, then stored in Ecotact liners to protect moisture and aroma.
- Exporter: Fatoum Muslot, whose family has shipped Yemeni coffee since the 1950s, tightening hand-sorting standards to raise cup consistency.
Economic & cultural significance
Coffee grows on only 2.4 % of Yemen’s cultivable land yet provides about 6 % of farm-export revenue, with 20 812 t produced in 2019. Nearly one million Yemenis earn income from the crop, according to Muslot’s 2020 sector brief.
The Port-of-Mocha challenge
For three centuries Mocha dominated global coffee trade. Today, exporting even a single lot “is like sneaking treasure past a dragon”: Houthi attacks since late 2023 have slashed Red Sea traffic, doubled insurance rates, and sunk multiple merchant ships. Each jar that reaches your counter traces that high-risk corridor.
Modern revival
Mokhtar Alkhanshali’s Monk of Mokha story rekindled fascination with Yemeni coffee, showing how quality premiums can replace qat and sustain rural communities.
Brewing guidance
- Espresso: 20 g in / 42 g out / 29 s at 197 °F—expect syrupy body, cardamom-tinged spice, and cocoa finish.
- V60: 15 g coffee, 250 g water at 205 °F, 3 min 15 s—yields date-cake sweetness with gentle citrus lift.
The beans ship freshly roasted; store the reusable jar airtight and grind on demand.)
Crafted for adventurous palates, this jar captures Yemen’s heritage in every sip—and every shipment that survives the Red Sea underscores how rare that treat truly is.
