Haraz Collective Natural

Sourced from the outskirts of the Governorate of Sana’a, Haraz is one of the most celebrated coffee-producing regions in Yemen. Known for its beautiful landscapes, Haraz is often referred to as ‘the land above the clouds’ due to its extraordinary altitudes.

Located some 150km inland from the Red Sea’s primary port of Al-Hudaydah, Haraz sits within the Sarat mountain range. Home to the peninsula’s highest mountain, Jabal An-Nabi Shu’ayb, and the critically endangered Arabian Leopard, the range runs parrel to the eastern coast of the red sea: beginning in Asir, Saudi Arabia and finishing in the Gulf of Aiden to the south.

Due to the tough terrain, the people of Haraz have remained isolated, helping to maintain their distinct culture and ancient growing traditions. This is seen in the architecture, with many of the buildings built by the Sulajhid dynasty of the 11th century still standing today.

During the harvest, producers begin by selectively handpicking only the reddest cherries. A single farmer may pass a tree several times during each harvest, making sure cherries are only picked when they are at their most ripe. Once picked, the cherries are transported to one of Sheba’s regional processing hubs. For this coffee, the cherries were dried at Sheba’s primary processing centre in Haraz. Soon as they are delivered to the processing hub, next they are placed into baths of cool, clean water, cleaning and sorting the quality cherries from any floaters or debris.

Once clean, the cherries are placed onto raised beds for an average of two to three weeks to dry. Here, the cherries are turned daily, making sure they are dried evenly. Once a moisture level of between 11-12% is recorded, the beans are removed from their beds and placed into airtight bags, helping protect them from oxidization or contamination from foreign matter or air pollution.

Next, the coffee is transported to Sheba’s processing centre. Here, the dried cherries are rested for between 1 and 2 months; before being hulled of their cherry. Once hulled, the beans are passed through a gravity sorter, sieved by screen size and hand sorted, removing any remaining defects. Once complete, the coffees are graded and bagged, ready for export.