Bani Zaidan XCI

Bani Zaidan XCI · Community Lot · Alchemy XCI · Kent · Bani Ofair, Maghrib Ans, Dhamar

Bani Zaidan is a cluster of neighbouring families whose farms interlock across the slopes at the rugged edge of Wadi Anis, 1,800 metres up in the highlands of Maghrib Ans. The irrigation channels are shared, pruning and composting methods pass from one household to the next, and when the cherries come ready the harvest is organised between families rather than within them.

That is what gives a community lot from here its consistency. The standard is held across the whole cluster, because the people setting it are working the same water and comparing notes as they go.

The variety is Kent, which has adapted well to this drier, volcanic ground. The processing is XCI, the furthest Qima's Alchemy series has taken anaerobic fermentation: intense and firmly structured, and clean enough that the fruit character still reads clearly through it.

Bani Zaidan sent both an XCI and a natural lot to the 2025 auction. Qima has worked in this area since 2021, building rainwater reservoirs, training farmers and supplying seedlings, and the coffee has improved every year since.