Yemeni Coffee Shops in America: Brewing Hope, Heritage, and an Unforgettable Cup
Walk into a Yemeni coffee shop anywhere across the United States, and you’ll feel it: a story far bigger than coffee.
It’s a story of resilience, culture, and the simple yet powerful hope carried in every cup.
Mokhtar Alkhanshali, founder of Port of Mokha, captures it best:
“I get emotional every time I step into one of these cafés and see Yemen’s name being celebrated — not through war, but through the beauty of coffee.”
Since 2017, when Ibrahim Alhasbani opened the first Qahwah House after immigrating to the U.S., Yemeni cafés have been on the rise.
Today, Qahwah House boasts 23 vibrant locations across Texas, New York, Michigan, and beyond.
At a cozy café in Dearborn, Alhasbani, over a pistachio latte, explains:
“Qahwah means coffee in Arabic. It’s more than a drink—it’s a piece of Yemen’s soul I want to share.”
The surge of Yemeni cafés like Haraz, MOKAFÉ, and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co. isn’t just a business trend—it’s a cultural renaissance.
Each shop is a sanctuary of warmth, offering cardamom and ginger-laced brews, late-night gatherings, and desserts like hazelnut kunafa cheesecake and rich chocolate-dipped cakes.
According to Fionn Pooler, editor of The Pourover coffee newsletter, these cafés offer an unmatched experience:
“The desserts alone are phenomenal, a level you just don’t find in most coffee shops,” he says.
Yemeni coffee beans are prized among connoisseurs for good reason. Their distinct flavors and ancient heritage give every sip an authenticity that’s hard to replicate.
“Only the finest Yemeni coffee reaches the U.S.,” Pooler notes. “It’s truly the best of the best.”
Yet, this journey from the terraced mountains of Yemen to American coffee cups is fraught with hardship.
Before the war, transporting coffee from family farms near Sanaa to the southern port of Aden took about ten hours. Today, it can take two days — a journey filled with risks and uncertainties.
Worse still, political obstacles threaten the industry’s fragile success.
Most Yemeni coffee comes from regions controlled by Houthi forces.
New U.S. sanctions could technically categorize anyone importing from these areas as aiding terrorism—potentially devastating the livelihoods of thousands of Yemeni farmers.
“This isn’t just about coffee,” says Alkhanshali, who was profiled in Dave Eggers’ bestselling book The Monk of Mokha.
“It’s about entire communities who rely on these ancient coffee trees to survive.”
Meanwhile, the war’s human cost weighs heavy.
Alhasbani shares that both his mother and sister recently passed away from treatable conditions—casualties of Yemen’s crumbling healthcare system.
Despite the devastation, Yemeni café owners like Alhasbani and Alkhanshali continue to fight for something beautiful.
In cities like San Francisco and New York, names like Delah Coffee, Heyma Yemeni Coffee, and Mohka House shine bright.
And through every steaming cup of qahwah served, a new image of Yemen is being painted—not one of war and famine, but of heritage, hospitality, and humanity.
At Qahwah House, Alhasbani smiles proudly:
“We are behind every smile in the morning,” he says.
A simple cup of Yemeni coffee — and an entire world of hope within it.
