Queen of Saba, Filter - Yemen

Born and raised among the steep terraces of Haraz, Yemen, Haytham Alafoury farms land where patience is not simply a virtue it is part of the process.

Haytham began working the land alongside his father from a young age. While many families have left the region in search of other opportunities, he chose to stay, building his approach around discipline, careful farming and a deep respect for the character of his land.

Today, Haytham continues to work the farm with the hope that his four children will one day follow in his footsteps and carry the family's coffee growing legacy forward.

His approach is quiet and meticulous, with every stage of production carefully considered to preserve quality and express the distinctive character of Haraz.

This coffee undergoes an intricate, multi-stage fermentation and drying protocol developed to maximise precision, stability and roast quality.

Freshly harvested cherries are sorted by flotation, with floating cherries removed to ensure only the densest, highest-quality fruit enters processing. The selected cherries are placed in raised drying beds under full shade in a relatively thick layer for 18 days. Limited airflow and regular manual turning every 2.5 hours create a slow, controlled fermentation environment. The cherries are lightly misted with water at the same intervals, while temperatures are maintained between 18–22°C and relative humidity between 55–65%. The cherries are then transferred to sealed metal barrels, creating an oxygen-free environment for a further seven days of controlled fermentation at 20–22°C. 
The coffee returns to raised drying beds under shade, where it continues to dry slowly and evenly.

Following drying, the coffee is carefully dehulled, density sorted and manually inspected before export preparation.

The Mountain Silence process is a remarkable example of how traditional agricultural knowledge can be combined with precise fermentation and drying techniques. From the high-altitude terraces of Haraz to Haytham's painstaking attention to every stage of processing, this is a coffee shaped by time, control and an unwavering commitment to quality.

• Region: Haraz – Wadi Al-Shari Valley
• Country: Yemen
• Elevation: 2,450 masl
• Variety: Typica
• Process: Natural Anaerobic