*please note the coffee will be bagged and shipped with the jar, in case of breakage*

Origin: Bani Matari, Sana'a Region, Yemen
Producer: ~100 smallholder farmers via Pearl of Tehama
Process: Traditional natural, dried on rooftops
Altitude: 2000–2400 masl
Certifications: Organically grown (not certified)
Tasting Notes: Dark chocolate, dried fruit, dates, baking spice
Best for: Pour over, espresso, French press, drip

Matari is one of the few Yemeni coffees that was traditionally kept separate instead of getting tossed into generic "Sana'ani" blends. The trees here are old-growth giants that look more like someone's forgotten fruit orchard than a coffee farm. But Yemeni coffee has never looked like anyone else's coffee.

This lot comes through Fatoum Muslot, who inherited her father's export company from the 1950s and has kept it running through circumstances that would make most people close up shop. She's upgraded quality control, uses better storage (Ecotact bags that actually preserve freshness), and maintained farmer relationships while navigating checkpoints, closed ports, and logistics that sound like a nightmare. Shipping costs have gone up six times. She sends sample coffee overland to Oman before it can fly anywhere. She does it anyway because the alternative is letting this coffee—and the people who grow it—disappear.

Farmers here work plots so small you could walk across them in two minutes. Most have around 1000 trees on less than half a hectare. Everything is rain-fed. Organically grown because there's no other option. Processed the old way: natural drying on rooftops under relentless sun.
Yemen is where the world's coffee trade started. This is what the beginnings of coffee tastes like.