Strictly speaking, Yemen is on the Asian continent, but Yemeni coffee is very clearly African in taste and character, bearing closest resemblance to Ethiopia Harrar.
Yemen Matari is grown and processed much in the same way today as 400 years ago when it was first brought to the attention of European merchants through the port city Al Makha, or Mocha, as Europeans still call it today.
Like other dry processed beans (Sumatra & Ethiopia Harrar), Yemen Matari picks up a wider range of flavors from the actual flesh of the cherry which is allowed to dry on the bean in the sun before being removed. So you get bursts of fruittiness, cinnamon & cardamon notes, some earthiness and an intriguing malty flavor. And like other dry processed coffees (also known as "wild" processed) each cup will be different. As you can imagine, though the coffee cherries are picked at about the same degree of ripeness, it's all done manually and there's alot of human judgment involved in picking and sorting the cherries. A truly ripe cherry will impart a certain type of flavor while one perhaps a little over-ripe will lend yet another characteristic. And then there's the issue of how long that cherry is allowed to dry on the bean. Long story short, LOTS of variables and they all effect the cup dramatically and delightfully.
Take a sip on the wild side!
Other products in the category Coffees / Africa & Arabia:
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