YEMEN'S COFFEE HISTORY

An Islamic Scholar and Sufi mystic discovers that if he sets a pot of water over his cook fire, and boils the seeds of a certain fruit that grows wild in the hills, the water turns a muddy brown. When he drinks this brew, it lifts his spirit, awakens his senses, and allows him to pray and study through the night. This Monk of Mokha shares his discovery with his brothers and sisters, and before long, this drink becomes prized among the Yemeni people. Coffee starts getting cultivated in the mountain and valley terraces, and shared with pilgrims and traders who visit the country.

As a kid growing up in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Mokhtar Alkhanshali never liked coffee that much. It tasted dark and bitter. As a child, Mokhtar traveled with his parents back to the mountain town of Ibb, Yemen, where his family is from. He used to walk through the terraced farms with his grandmother and pick bright red coffee cherries - the fruit that holds the coffee beans - right off the trees.

As a kid growing up in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Mokhtar Alkhanshali never liked coffee that much. It tasted dark and bitter. As a child, Mokhtar traveled with his parents back to the mountain town of Ibb, Yemen, where his family is from. He used to walk through the terraced farms with his grandmother and pick bright red coffee cherries - the fruit that holds the coffee beans - right off the trees.

As a kid growing up in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Mokhtar Alkhanshali never liked coffee that much. It tasted dark and bitter. As a child, Mokhtar traveled with his parents back to the mountain town of Ibb, Yemen, where his family is from. He used to walk through the terraced farms with his grandmother and pick bright red coffee cherries - the fruit that holds the coffee beans - right off the trees.

As a kid growing up in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Mokhtar Alkhanshali never liked coffee that much. It tasted dark and bitter. As a child, Mokhtar traveled with his parents back to the mountain town of Ibb, Yemen, where his family is from. He used to walk through the terraced farms with his grandmother and pick bright red coffee cherries - the fruit that holds the coffee beans - right off the trees.