Bani Fadhl Lot # 22-10
بني فضل # 22-10
Located in the governorate of Dhamar, Anis has become a key player in Yemeni coffee cultivation, thanks to its fertile lands and plentiful yields.
Known for its high mountains, the area surrounding Bani Fadl has an abundance of water for irrigation and features several waterfalls and wells, where water can be drawn from deep below the mountains. Badi Fadl is considered the biggest sub-region in Anis, containing six small villages, including Alsarabah, Alobarah, Kurabah & Al-Shat. With high altitudes and no shortage of water (for natural production at least), the Anis region benefits from higher yields when compared to other producing regions. This means that for this coffee alone, the region can produce 15 tons of quality cherry per season: a sizeable lot in Yemeni production terms.
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. The cherries are next placed into baths of cool, clean water, cleaning and sorting the quality cherries from any floaters or debris.
Once clean, the cherries are dried. For this lot, multiple drying methods are used, such as raised beds and greenhouses. For the raised beds, the coffee is dried for an average of two to three weeks and 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.
