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best of yemen 2022 results

4.

Al Obrah Alchemy

Jury code : 3368


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jury score :

90.08


Genetics :

Yemenia

Process :

Alchemy

lot size :

110.00LBS


traceability

VILLAGE :Al Obrah

REGION : Hayma Dakhiliya

GOVERNORATE : Sanaa

ALTITUDE :1800-2000masl

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FLAVOUR PROFILE

Passion Fruit, Peach, Maraschino Cherries, Rosewater Jam


Meet the coffee farming community of AlObrah
Alobrah is a village in Yemen, nestled in the Hayma Dakhiliya region, within the isolation of Al-Ahbab. The village is renowned not only for its rich coffee production but also for its historical significance and natural beauty.

The name Alobrah means "the crossing" or "the lesson," reflecting its role as a crossing point between the two isolated tribal groups, Al-Ahbab and Bani Al-Siyagh. It stands as a place where one can not only cross from one region to another but also learn from its rich history and culture.

A stream flows from the mountains through Alobrah, providing fresh water to the village and its surroundings. This stream also feeds local waterfalls, creating a landscape of stunning beauty and a climate that is both mild and refreshing.

The villagers of Alobrah have a strong sense of community and hospitality, welcoming visitors with open arms. They take great pride in their coffee production and their village, eager to share their heritage with the outside world.

Alobrah is a place where history has been carefully preserved. The houses, built of stone and mud, remain as they were in the time of their ancestors, standing several stories high with multiple rooms. The agricultural lands, too, have been maintained as they were for generations.

The village has one of the few schools in the region, providing basic education to the children of Alobrah and nearby villages. In an area where most villages lack essential services—such as health care, electricity, and water—this school stands as a rare facility, a testament to the villagers' dedication to preserving their way of life and nurturing future generations.
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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 Obrah

Alobrah, a village in Yemen's Hayma Dakhiliya region, is a hub of coffee production set between the tribal lands of Al-Ahbab and Bani Al-Siyagh. The village is nourished by a mountain stream that provides fresh water and feeds nearby waterfalls, enhancing the area's natural beauty. Traditional stone and mud houses, built to withstand time, dominate the landscape, reflecting the village's history and resilience. Despite limited access to services like electricity and healthcare, Alobrah maintains a school and remains deeply rooted in its coffee cultivation and heritage.

Hayma Dakhiliya

Hayma Dakhiliya is a coffee growing region located in the west of the Sana’a governorate, it is one of the governorate’s most well-known regions. The region has 11 mountainous villages located 50km west of the capital city of Sana’a. Some of the villages in Hayma Dakhiliya include Al Yaer, Bait Yaseen, Al Mezab and Bait Al Kabsh. However, due to the rough terrain and rugged roads, the villages are hard to reach and remain isolated from the city. Due to the location of the villages in this region, access to education and healthcare is limited. 

However, coffee trees have been struggling with diseases impacting the region’s outturn of coffee cherries and overall yield. Low yield is a problem affecting the Yemeni coffee industry; however, Hayma Dakhiliya is particularly struggling with this issue and as result, the region has the lowest yield in Yemen. 

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


best of yemen 2022 results

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