Day 11 | Yemen Hayma Dakhilya SP Anaerobic

On August 14th 2020, Qima Coffee announced the discovery of Yemenia, a previously unnamed coffee varietal. 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.

To assess the cup quality of Yemenia, Qima Coffee, in collaboration with the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, put together an independent jury panel of 35 cuppers from 24 leading global coffee companies across 14 countries. The cup quality was found to be exceptional and the coffees were ranked as amongst the highest in the world.

This Yemenia lot is a part of Qima Coffee's Competition and 90+ Series, a category of the best coffee Yemen has to offer. It was grown in the Hayma Dakhiliya region of the Sana’a governorate in Yemen. The region is characterized by rough terrain and rugged roads with clusters of agrarian villages that remain mostly isolated from the main cities.

Yemen is considered to be the place where coffee was first cultivated from imported plants that were growing wild in Ethiopia. The Hayma Dakhiliya region has been producing coffee for well over three centuries. The weather is mild and rainy in the summer months and cold in winter and the fertile soil is rich in minerals. Some of the coffee trees in the region are over a century old.

Qima Coffee was founded with the vision of using coffee as a vehicle to sustainably improve lives and livelihoods. They work exclusively with fresh cherry to ensure that every step of the critical post-harvest process is carefully managed and controlled. They source directly at smallholder farmer level to ensure full traceability down to the individual producer. Qima donates 10% of their annual profits to education and agriculture projects through the Qima Foundation.