When our founder came to the US from a family of Yemeni coffee farmers, he came with history and tradition—but also an extremely fine-tuned palate for exquisite coffee. It’s safe to say: we know good coffee.

All coffee plants in the world could call Yemen home, but on the mountainous slopes of some of Yemen’s most famed coffee towns—Yafa, Hayma, and Ismaili to name a few—ancient plants still grow ancient flavors. In some cases, these plants are over 1,000 years old, and boast a flavor harkening not just to a different place, but a different time, preserved through family tradition but also through ferociously steep mountains that keep Yemeni coffee incredibly rare.

Literally grown above the clouds, coffee plants yearn for this type of high altitude, fertile soil, and climate, yielding complex flavors with hints of fruit, chocolate and spice. It’s no wonder that the word coffee comes from the Arabic word, “qahwah,” which originally meant “wine of the bean.”

The different micro-climates of Yemen produce coffee beans that are distinct from one another, creating a variety of flavors even within the country that has made even the average Yemeni a coffee connoisseur.

This is partially because Yemen uses one of the oldest methods of agroforestry in the world, which is farming that mimics a natural forest, and different microclimates use different plants. On Yemen’s step-like mountains that only locals know how to scale, Yemeni farmers don’t grow coffee alone. Coffee can be grown with pomegranates, figs, legumes, maize, bananas, native shrubs and herbs, among others.

Just like in a human community, the plants support each other, helping retain moisture, stabilizing the ground, adding nitrogen to soil, and providing shade and organic matter to the coffee plants. These complex communities help yield the complex flavors Yemeni coffee is known for. Not so different from how those indigenous to the Americas grow the Three Sisters, this method is based on traditional knowledge and a deep connection to the land and the coffee plant.

It goes without saying Yemeni farming practices are deeply ancestral and naturally organic. That’s why we never mix our 100 percent organic Yemeni beans with lower quality beans, or lower quality ingredients. Yemeni coffee is meant to be enjoyed in its more original, unadulterated form.

Unless you’re mixing in delicious spices. Over the centuries, Yemenis have perfected unique brewing styles with flavorful, luxurious spices, and we use only the finest and most organic. We source our cardamom from Guatemala, cinnamon from Vietnam, and saffron from Iran, writing another chapter in the story of coffee and its crossing of borders.

And, that story continues with you. Yemeni coffee is so special, we wanted to share it. Together we’re creating a new chapter for Yemen—linking the past to a brighter future.