Khawlani: notes from a farm in Jazan

We drove four hours south of Abha to find the lot. The Khawlani cherry grows at 1,800 metres in volcanic soil.

The farmer served us qahwa before we could ask. Three finjans, poured from a dallah that had been used ten thousand times. The coffee was pale, almost yellow, with a cardamom note so clean it felt like mountain air.

Khawlani is lighter-bodied, more tea-like, with a natural sweetness that needs no sugar. We buy forty kilos per season. It is what he can spare. We pay what he asks and do not negotiate.