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best of yemen 2022 results

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Majid Mather Alchemy

Jury code : 8023


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jury score :

90.15


Genetics :

Yemenia

Process :

Alchemy

lot size :

138.00LBS


traceability

VILLAGE :Al Mahjar

REGION : Hayma Kharijiya

GOVERNORATE : Sanaa

ALTITUDE :2000-2100masl

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FLAVOUR PROFILE

Purple Grapes, Berries, Caramelised Sugar, Golden raisins, Lavender


Meet Majid Mather
Majid Mather is a dedicated coffee farmer from Hayma Kharijiya, Yemen, born in 1994. Raised in a family steeped in the tradition of coffee cultivation, Majid absorbed his love for this ancient craft from his father and grandfather. They planted only 10% of their land with coffee, but Majid transformed the remaining 90%, initiating a significant expansion in 2012 and accelerating it further in 2020.

From an early age, Majid was immersed in the daily rhythms of farm life, learning vital skills such as irrigation, land maintenance, and natural fertilization. His earliest memories are of assisting his father with watering the crops, playing with the water that nurtured the coffee plants. Every morning, Majid is filled with a deep sense of optimism, seeing his coffee farm not just as a livelihood, but as his destiny. During the harvest, he and his family follow a cherished tradition: rising early to share breakfast under the sheltering coffee trees.

Inspired by his father, Majid’s passion for coffee cultivation is relentless, driving him to continually expand and refine his efforts. Even in the face of severe challenges like water scarcity, Majid has found ways to overcome. He has learned to build small dams and rainwater reservoirs, dedicating himself entirely to the cultivation of coffee. The reservoirs have been the most impactful change, allowing him to sustain his coffee trees even during droughts.

The greatest reward for Majid is the knowledge that people around the world enjoy coffee made from his beans—a thought that fills him with pride and satisfaction. Each cup represents not just a drink but the culmination of his labor and commitment. He sees a bright future for coffee cultivation in Yemen and believes it is a treasure worth preserving for future generations. His advice to those who follow in his footsteps is simple: view coffee as a treasure, and never cease in its cultivation. Majid’s journey is one of resilience and heritage, a testament to his deep dedication to ensuring the legacy of Yemeni coffee endures.
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Genetics

Yemenia

Yemenia is a new mother population within the species of Coffea arabica that is found exclusively in Yemen, and represents an ocean of unexplored genetics and future varieties that have the potential to reshape the world of arabica for centuries to come.

Read the Scientific paper here. 

The discovery of Yemenia was part of Qima Coffee’s R&D programme with Dr Christophe Montagnon, the aim of which was to map out Yemen's coffee genetic landscape. Qima conducted the largest genetic survey in Yemen's history, covering an area of over 25,000 sq km.

Through rigorous research in coffee genetics, we discovered that there exists a mother population of Coffea arabica that never left Yemen, and remains native to the land till date: Yemenia – meaning Yemeni mother in Arabic. 

Yemen’s coffee land has a rough climate, displaying both high and low temperatures in the extreme range of coffee growing areas worldwide, together with one of the lowest global rainfall levels. There is no doubt that this environment has favoured resilient landraces, not only between the 1400s (coffee first introduced to Yemen) and 1700s (when today’s main worldwide coffee varieties were taken out of Yemen), but also during the last 300 years of coffee cultivation and propagation. The unveiling of Yemenia, which has not been observed anywhere else in the world so far, opens the gate to previously uncharted genetic diversity within C. arabica in general, and Yemeni coffee in particular. Further research is ongoing to determine and identify potential varieties within Yemenia group.  

Process

Alchemy

The culmination of years of processing experience and more than 1,300 processing experiments, the Qima Alchemy Series represents the next generation of coffee processing innovation. Through these processing innovations, we have successfully added sensorial value to coffees. The resulting cup profiles are bold and enhanced; they maintain the intrinsic flavours and notes that represent the terroir and the genetic background of the coffee.

The Alchemy series relies on a combination of pressure (up to 10 bar/145 psi), temperature control, gas regulation and managed drying, to develop a truly unique set of coffees with unparalleled flavour expression and structure. All of our processing and fermentation protocols are underpinned by principles of chemical engineering, ensuring our innovations are both sensorially unique and scientifically novel.  

TRACEABILITY

Al Mahjar

Al Mahjar is a village that occupies a sizeable area of the Bait Alal cluster within Hayma Kharijiya in west Yemen. The name itself is believed to signify the remoteness of the village. According to local claims, coffee cultivation in the region dates back to 400 years

Hayma Kharijiya

Hayma Kharijiya is a coffee growing region located in the west of the Sana’a governorate and includes many villages. It is located on the west side of Sana'a city. It is bordered by Bani Matar to the east, Al-Hayma Al Dakhiliyah to the north, Manakhah to the west and Dhamar to the south. The region boasts of a lion’s share within Yemeni specialty coffee production, both in terms of quality and quantity. One can spot this name associated with many premium Yemeni coffees.

Hayma Kharijiya is known for its mild weather, fresh air and a chain of mountains that has a navy blue appearance to them. The air is fresh and one can stand anywhere on the mountain for a panoramic view of many important regions closeby. 

Hayma Kharijiya has many valleys such as Wadi Ali, Wadi Sarf, and Wadi Bini Ahmed to name a few. Mufhaq and Al-Manar forts are of the important archaeological landmarks in Hayma Kharijiya. 

Sanaa

The governorate of Sana’a not only has the biggest share of specialty coffee production, in both quality and quantity in Yemen but also has one of the longest continuous coffee cultures in the world. Much of the coffee consumed in Sana’a is prepared using the traditional Ibrik method, brewing coffee in a copper or silver pot over hot charcoals.

10:00AM BST LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

2:00AM PDT LA, USA

5:00AM EDT NY, USA

11:00AM CEST AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

12:00PM AST RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

1:00PM GST DUBAI, UAE

5:00PM CST BEIJING, CHINA

5:00PM HKT HONG KONG, HONG KONG

6:00PM JST  TOKYO, JAPAN

6:00PM KST SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

7:00PM AEST SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

BoY 24
OCTOBER 8


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