Check out the beautiful variation of color with these green beans! We've been doing a lot of research with Yemen coffee (hey, we've never gotten it before, so we need to know what we're dealing with, here), and there's definitely a few reasons for what you see. You'll look at most Latin American coffees, and they're smooth, uniformly sized, and a cool shade of green... almost jade-like. That's because they're washed coffees; or rather, the cherry has been removed from the beans the same day (or very shortly after) they've been picked. On the other hand, this coffee from Yemen has been naturally processed; meaning that the cherry has been left to dry on the bean for longer (perhaps a couple of weeks)... and then removed (often in caves!). Also, most coffees are processed fairly close to the where they've been grown; either on the farm or a nearby coop. Yemen coffee has a different system where the farmers (often growing on ultra-steep hillsides -- you could even call them cliffs) bring their coffee cherries into town to the coffee "collectors." This is the step in production where the cherries are removed and then painstakingly hand sorted. Due to this incredibly labor intensive process, some collectors are more meticulous at sorting than others, and this is evident in the price and quality.
OK, enough of a lesson (if you want to learn more, Tom at Sweet Maria's has written a very interesting travelogue of his trip to Yemen last year). We're tinkering around with the roast, and should have it for you on Monday or Tuesday, in the cafes and online!
...and now the Yemen is here!
Check out the beautiful variation of color with these green beans! We've been doing a lot of research with Yemen coffee (hey, we've never gotten it before, so we need to know what we're dealing with, here), and there's definitely a few reasons for what you see. You'll look at most Latin American coffees, and they're smooth, uniformly sized, and a cool shade of green... almost jade-like. That's because they're washed coffees; or rather, the cherry has been removed from the beans the same day (or very shortly after) they've been picked. On the other hand, this coffee from Yemen has been naturally processed; meaning that the cherry has been left to dry on the bean for longer (perhaps a couple of weeks)... and then removed (often in caves!). Also, most coffees are processed fairly close to the where they've been grown; either on the farm or a nearby coop. Yemen coffee has a different system where the farmers (often growing on ultra-steep hillsides -- you could even call them cliffs) bring their coffee cherries into town to the coffee "collectors." This is the step in production where the cherries are removed and then painstakingly hand sorted. Due to this incredibly labor intensive process, some collectors are more meticulous at sorting than others, and this is evident in the price and quality.
OK, enough of a lesson (if you want to learn more, Tom at Sweet Maria's has written a very interesting travelogue of his trip to Yemen last year). We're tinkering around with the roast, and should have it for you on Monday or Tuesday, in the cafes and online!
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