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The US Is the world's second[br]biggest importer of coffee.

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It is a very labor intensive crop.

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It can take three to four years

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for a plant to bear the kind of fruit[br]we would roast and grind.

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But the two people [br]typically paid the least in the chain

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are the farmer and the barista.

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Learning about coffee is about learning[br]where your dollar goes.

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We follow one of those chains[br]from Michigan to Yemen.

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CONFLICT COFFEE

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Hello. Hey, how are you?

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What do you recommend today?

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(Alhasbani) You want something [br]with cream or no cream?

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You can add a little cream,[br]a little something sweet...

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(Alhasbani) Go with the Mofawar.

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Everything for here, right?

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(customer) Yes, sir.

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(Amel) <i>Ibrahim Alhasbani[br]is a coffee mogul in the making.</i>

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<i>In 2017, he opened his first shop[br]in Dearborn,</i>

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<i>and is now branching out[br]to two locations,</i>

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<i>one across town and another in New York.</i>

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<i>He's not selling your average [br]American-style filtered coffee, though.</i>

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<i>Alhasbani's coffee beans are from Yemen.</i>

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(Alhasbani) Enjoy, guys.

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(customer) Thank you.

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(Alhasbani) We're going to make[br]one Sana'ani and one Jubani.

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(Amel) Okay.

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(Alhasbani) For Sana'ani, we're going[br]to use a medium roast with cardamom.

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For the Jubani, we use a light roast,[br]medium roast, coffee husks,

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ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom.

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- Got it. [br]- It's like a special mix.

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(Amel) So, this is like the gateway drug[br]into Yemen.

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Yes, it's like a bridge.

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It doesn't have sugar.

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Yemeni coffee is famous[br]because it has natural sweetness in it.

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And I take my coffee with sugar [br]every morning,

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but I can drink this without sugar.

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Good.

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You're going to change your mind now.

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(Amel) <i>These coffee beans are sweeter[br]because they're grown</i>

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<i>in the highest mountainous regions [br]of the country.</i>

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Why is coffee so important for Yemen?

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For Yemen, first, is our culture.

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We drink coffee every day.

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It has also opened Yemen[br]to the other countries.

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When they started shipping[br]to different countries,

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people, they read more about Yemen,

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they want to visit Yemen,

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they want to see[br]what's different about Yemen.

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(Amel) How old were you [br]when you had your first cup of coffee?

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(Alhasbani) My mom, she told me when I was a kid,

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I had two things,

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coffee and a spicy.

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She thought there's something wrong[br]with this baby. (laughter)

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(Amel) <i>Yemen may have been the first[br]to drink coffee</i>

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<i>nearly a thousand years ago</i>

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<i>when it exported it out of a famous port[br]called Mocha.</i>

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<i>But colonialism,</i>

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<i>conflict,</i>

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<i>and the rising popularity[br]of coffee crops elsewhere,</i>

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<i>overtook it.</i>

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<i>Alhasbani left home in 2011,</i>

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<i>but his brother still back in Haraz</i>

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<i>running the family's coffee farm.</i>

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Hello?

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Hello.

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How are you?

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All is good. Thank God.

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Okay. And how's everything there?

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Everything's great.[br]The coffee beans are great.

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Make sure you don't roast it

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except with the right amount of time

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and at the right time.

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Yes, for sure.

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Let's go... let's go... let's go...

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Let's go, Abadan.[br]Let's go, Noureddeen.

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Let's go.

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Let's go, it's noon.

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The sun is getting hot. [br]Hold this.

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Here. Hold this.

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Hold this.

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Watch out for my foot.

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The red and tender ones.

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The red.

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This is one of the best types of coffee.

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Look, they're red.

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Come on, come on.

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For people's livelihoods,[br]it's the coffee bean tree.

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If you notice, all of the valleys [br]and empty areas here

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are used to grow coffee beans.

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All riches here are gone.

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Everyone here grows coffee beans.[br]There's nothing else left.

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(Amel) <i>For five years, a rebel militia [br]based in the north, the Houthis,</i>

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<i>has been fighting with a coalition</i>

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<i>backed by the Saudis for control.</i>

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<i>The coalition blocked [br]most imports from coming in,</i>

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<i>and the fighting has made life[br]in the region's poorest country hell.</i>

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<i>More than 100,000 people have died so far.</i>

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<i>From airstrikes, famine,[br]and rampant disease.</i>

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<i>And exporting anything [br]amid all of this chaos</i>

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<i>is sometimes impossible.</i>

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<i>It's cheaper to attempt this [br]only once a year,</i>

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<i>and the only way to keep the beans fresh</i>

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<i>is to roast and grind them in the US.</i>

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You must really believe[br]in this Yemeni coffee.

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Yes.

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First, I believe in our brand.

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I believe in our Yemeni coffee beans

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as one of the best coffee beans[br]in the world.

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I also believe in myself.

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I didn't listen to anyone.

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I just spent all the savings I have,

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401K, I took it down and used it,

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I used all my credit cards,

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I used all the money I have.

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Everybody said, "You're crazy."

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(Amel) When people [br]first hear the word Yemen,

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they think of the current war,

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bloodshed...

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But to you, Yemen,[br]signifies something else.

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It's my life, it's my birthplace.

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I stopped watching news, actually,

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especially when it comes to Yemen,

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it's just sad.

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I'm far right here,[br]and I can't do nothing.

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It's just... I can't control my emotion,

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I can't control myself.

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It's bothering me from inside.

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All my family is still there.

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I have my sister, she was sick,

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and because there was[br]no hospital in Yemen,

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there's no doctors, there's no medicine,

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she passed away in the way.

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They took her to the hospital[br]they didn't do nothing for her,

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so they sent her back home,

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and she got worse.

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They took her back to the hospital[br]and she didn't make it.

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Do you ever feel guilty that you're here

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and they're there back in a war zone?

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(Alhasbani) Sometimes I feel guilty [br]because I'm not next to them.

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Family is very important.

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On the other side, I feel not guilty

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because at least I'm here [br]to support them, to help them.

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If all of us are stuck there,

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you don't know what's going to happen.

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What are your hopes for a better Yemen?

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This war has to end.

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This is first.

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Second, we have to be[br]all Yemeni together...

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Ah...

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What are you thinking about?

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I'm just going to get emotional,[br]that's why...

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Yeah...

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It's just... I was crazy about...

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When I remember those people is not...

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When they fight...

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it's really bad.

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Okay.

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If we're not going to do anything,

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nothing is going to change.