flavour profile

Tropical fruits, Cola, Lime, Cherry

Story Behind the Coffee

Majid Mathar is a young, 28 year old farmer who lives with his family of 12 in Bait Alal village of Hayma Kharijiya. Coffee growing is an ancestral occupation for Majid and his family, and even today, most of them are involved in it. His sound knowledge of agriculture comes from his father, who was experimental and a keen observer of his crop. He taught Majid how to plough the land after irrigation and they developed a preference for drip irrigation over immersion methods after seeing the damage to coffee trees. Majid has learnt the art of building small dams that help him irrigate his crop with minimal damage. “Using water from the dams suits my crop over directly sourced water.” He has also observed that using natural fertilisers leads to better outcomes than chemical fertilisers, and is an ardent advocate of the former. His poignant advice to other farmers reflects both of these lessons that he learnt from his father: “We must avoid using immersion irrigation as it can harm the coffee tree. Instead, we must build small dams for irrigation. I also recommend using natural fertilisers instead of chemicals. These small steps help us in producing higher quality beans." Majid’s main struggles include crop damage from unpredictable weather, especially in winters; and tremendously low market prices for his coffee, which makes it hard to churn a profit. However, Majid’s optimism shadows it all. The message to the consumers of his coffee is a simple, yet powerful one: “I am proud that my coffee – our Yemeni coffee – has reached you. It motivates us to do better and improve our production.”