We spoke with Marwan from Qawah House at a preview for One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural gardens on August 30, 2026. He told us that Qawah means Coffee in Arabic. He said that while coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia it was the Yemenis who first invented the drink we all know today.
In the 1400 as part of the Silk Road Yemeni people discovered the properties of the beans. He says that the volcanic soil, high altitude, and dry climate of Yemen produces beans with flavor profiles found nowhere else on earth. For eight generations, the Al-Hasbani family has cultivated coffee on the highlands of Yemen which he calls the birthplace of coffee. Some of the drinks have spices such as cardamom, pistachio or nutmeg. Watch the short video.
See some more from Qawah House in the One World Day preview.
