A Summary of the Development History of Coffee in Yemen

Coffee scientific name: Coffea arabica), also known as coffee tree, Arabica coffee, etc., is the national flower of Yemen. Before the 6th century in the park, Yemen was called Arab, so the coffee trees transported from them to other places were also called Arabian coffee trees. The name coffee comes from the Arabic word "Qahwah", which means plant drink. Later, coffee spread all over the world and was named after its place of origin, "Kaffa". It was not officially named "coffee" until the 18th century.

It is an evergreen shrub of Rubiaceae in plant taxonomy. Lateral branches extend horizontally, opposite, occasionally three whorls; simple leaves opposite, flowers are 2-10 clumps in leaf axils, the fruit is drupe oval, the first fruit is dark green, yellowish red or purplish red when ripe, the fruit of coffee is formed by pericarp, pulp, endocarp, silver peel, and the seeds (coffee beans) wrapped in the innermost layers mentioned above, the seeds are located in the central part of the fruit, and the parts outside the seeds are of little use.

The world's first coffee tree was found in the Horn of Africa. Coffee cultivation began in the 15th century. For hundreds of years, Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula is the only coffee producer in the world, and the market demand for coffee is very strong. In the Yemeni port of Moka, when coffee is shipped out, it often needs to be protected by heavy troops. At the same time, Yemen has also taken various measures to prevent coffee saplings from being taken out of the country. Despite many restrictions, Muslims who made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca secretly brought coffee saplings back to their hometown, so coffee soon took root in India. At that time, in Venice, Italy, countless merchant ships traded perfumes, tea and textiles with Arab merchants. In this way, coffee spread to a wide area of Europe through Venice. Many European businessmen have become accustomed to drinking coffee. Later, small vendors peddling coffee appeared on the streets of many European cities, and coffee gained rapid popularity in Europe. In the 17th century, the Dutch introduced coffee to their colony of Indonesia. At the same time, the French began to grow coffee in Africa. Today, coffee has become the second largest trading product on the earth after oil! Among the countless legends of coffee discoveries, there are two legends that people are most interested in talking about, namely, the Story of the Shepherd and the Arab Monk.

Three major coffee growing areas in the world: Africa, Indonesia and Central and South America. Yemen is the first country in the world to produce coffee on a large scale as a crop. The mocha coffee in Yemen today is grown and processed in much the same way as it was hundreds of years ago. On most coffee farms in Yemen, coffee farmers still resist the use of artificial chemicals such as chemical fertilizers. Coffee farmers plant poplars to provide shade for coffee to grow. Coffee trees are planted on steep terraces to maximize the use of less rainfall and limited land resources. Yemeni mocha beans are still shipped in a bag made of straw, unlike chemical woven bags in other places.

Yemeni coffee has been cultivated for more than 2000 years. According to statistics, coffee is cultivated in 76 countries in the world. Coffee in China was first introduced to Taiwan in 1884. In 1908, overseas Chinese brought back large and medium seeds from Malaysia to Hainan Island. At present, the main cultivation areas are Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan.