The Aroma of Mountains That Traveled Through Time
On the steep slopes of Yafa’s high mountains, where stone houses cling to the cliffs as if they were carved from the rock itself, the coffee tree grows in narrow terraces that look like patient strokes drawn across the earth. The air moves slowly there, heavy with the scent of damp soil, and the coffee trees glisten under the sun as though guarding an inheritance that began centuries ago. A visitor needs no guide to realize that these mountains were once the beating heart of the world’s coffee trade, and that their small cherries carried Yemen’s name to distant ports across the seas.
In Yafa, the coffee tree is not treated like any ordinary crop. It is cared for as an honored guest that must never be neglected. Its cherries are picked by hand, one by one, and dried on rooftops or on sun-warmed stones, exactly as farmers have done for hundreds of years. This traditional method — unchanged despite the passage of ages — is the secret behind the deep, full-bodied flavor of Yafai coffee; a taste that holds something of the earth itself, something of the sun that ripened it, and something of the patience of those who cultivated it.
The history of coffee in Yemen is better documented than any other crop. Historical sources note that Yemen was the first country in the world to cultivate coffee commercially, and that the drink spread from Yemen’s mountains to the rest of the world through the port of Mocha in the 15th century and beyond. From there, Yafai coffee — along with other Yemeni varieties — traveled to Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and ports across Asia, until the word “Mocha” became, in many languages, a synonym for high-quality coffee. And although Yafa was not the port itself, it was one of the key highland regions whose harvests fed the caravans heading toward Mocha along ancient trade routes.
Yafa’s mountains rise to elevations that exceed two thousand meters above sea level in some places — an ideal altitude for coffee trees that thrive in cool climates and stable humidity. For this reason, Yafai coffee is celebrated by today’s specialty-coffee experts for its natural fruity and spicy notes, formed without any industrial processing. Even in times when coffee cultivation declined in parts of Yemen, Yafa continued to protect its traditions, as if the mountains refuse to part with their cherished tree.
Though economic pressures in Yemen have made farming difficult, many Yafai families still regard coffee not merely as a crop, but as a source of pride. A local saying holds that “the coffee tree lives with the family like one of its children,” a sentiment that reflects the deep emotional bond between the people and their land. There, the rhythm of life cannot be separated from the sound of tools shaping the terraces, nor from the aroma of the morning cup that is the first thing mountain families drink at sunrise.
And when a visitor stands on one of Yafa’s high ridges during peak season, looking down at rows of terraces descending like steps into the valley, it becomes clear that Yafai coffee is far more than a crop planted by human hands — it is part of the place’s identity. In every coffee bean from these mountains lies a long memory: the memory of farmers who preserved their ancient methods, the memory of caravans that traveled toward Mocha, and the memory of Yemen itself, the land that offered the world its very first cup of coffee.
Today, Yafai coffee stands as a testament to a heritage that has never been broken — a heritage that shows how harsh mountains can give life a deeper flavor, and how a small bean can carry the story of an entire nation in its very first scent.
