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Yemen

Where coffee was first cultivated as a crop, and still farmed much as it was.

Altitude
1,000–2,400 m
Species
100% Arabica
Harvest
October–January

Overview

Coffee is native to Ethiopia but it was Yemen that first grew it deliberately, traded it, and gave it the port whose name still attaches to the coffee-and-chocolate pairing: Mocha. Arabica's own name comes from this side of the Red Sea.

Farming here is ancient and difficult. Coffee grows on hand-built stone terraces on very steep, very dry mountainsides, largely without irrigation, at altitudes that would be impossible in a wetter climate. Yields are tiny, the trees are old and genetically distinct, and decades of conflict have made everything about getting the coffee out harder.

Growing regions

  • Arabica

Shaded provinces contain growing areas; the crop covers only part of each.

1,500–2,400 m
Arabica

West of Sana'a, high and terraced; the best-documented Yemeni origin.

Harvest
  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D
Natural Yemeni landraces

1,800–2,200 m
Arabica

The district immediately west of the capital, historically shipped through Mocha.

Harvest
  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D
Natural Yemeni landraces

In the cup

Dried fruit, chocolate and spice, often with a winey, fermented edge and a heavy body — the consequence of natural processing on a bean grown very slowly with very little water. It can be wild and inconsistent; at its best it tastes like nothing else on the market.

Berry Chocolate Spice Full body
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Sources

  1. International Coffee Organization — Historical Data on the Global Coffee Trade (read August 24, 2026)
  2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — FAOSTAT — Crops and livestock products (read August 24, 2026)

Country outlines and shaded relief from Natural Earth, which places them in the public domain.

Growing-region markers indicate an area. They are not surveyed farm locations and should not be read as any.