14. Mocca Mattari – Yemen Espresso

This Matari-Sayhee coffee comes from a gently sloping valley in the traditional coffee growing region of Bani Matar. Al-Sayh, as the valley is know, lies between 1500 and 1700 meters above sea level, with subtropical conditions that see around 300mm of rain in spring and summer and a very dry autumn and winter. The region is blessed with a permanent spring in the higher parts of the valley, enabling the coffee to enjoy generous irrigation, a rarity in Yemen and something that ensures the quality of the coffee harvest.

Pearl of Tehama is the exporter of this coffee, and they've done a lot of groundbreaking work in the collection and traceability of their coffees, a historically complex undertaking in Yemen. The Matari-Sayhee comes from five villages, locally known as Mahlah, where 45 farmers form the group that grows this coffee that is then exporter by Pearl of Tehama. Each farm is run by up to 18 households, who tend to the coffee trees on terraced plots along the sides of the valley. This growing technique is unique to Yemen, and the landscape is spectacular, the terraces stacked along the mountainside, each level holding anything from 10 to 100 trees.


Relationship: New partner
Producer: Mattari
Type of farm: Cooperative of small holders

Region, Country: Bani Matar, Yemen
Altitude: 1600 masl
Soil type: Fertile soils
Fertilisation method: Organic
Shade type: Not shade grown
Processing location: On the farm
Number of varieties: Several
Harvest season: Oct-Mar