''Qishr'' ( ''geshir'', ''gishr'', ''kishr'') is a

Yemeni Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south ...

traditional hot drink made of spiced

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

husk Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an Ear (botany), ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes t ...

s,Dresch, Paul, "A history of modern Yemen"

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

,Hestler, Anna, "Yemen" and sometimes

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

.Jacob, Jeanne, Ashkenazi, Michael "The World Cookbook for Students, Volume 1" In

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, it is usually drunk as an alternative to coffee because it doesn't need to be roasted.

History

Coffee arrived in Yemen from across the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

into the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

into the region that is now

, where Muslim

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

es began cultivating the shrub in their gardens. At first, Yemenis made wine from the pulp of the fermented coffee berries. This beverage was known as ''qishr'' and was used during religious ceremonies. "Ginger coffee is the universal drink and the cup is always filled, a guest being given two cups at once... Qishr, an infusion made from the husks of coffee berries, is also drunk, particularly in the Tihamat al 'Asir." Concerning qishr, "Great hospitality was shown to us on entering their houses; we were always pressed to stay, and never allowed to go without taking a cup of coffee or rather an infusion of coffee husk called 'keshr'; for, strange to say, though in the heart of the coffee country, coffee is never taken as a beverage."Frankl, P.J.L. "Robert Finlay's Description of San'a' in 1238-1239/1823." Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies), Vol. 17, No. 1 (1990), page 27.

References

Bibliography

* Philby, H. St. J. B. (Harry St. John Bridger), 1885–1960. Arabian Highlands. Ithaca: Published for the Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C. yCornell University Press,

952 Year 952 (Roman numerals, CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – At the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I (Holy Roman ...

Subjects: Arabian Peninsula—Description and travel. 771 p. : illus., maps (part fold., 1 in pocket).

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

No.: 01083943. Page 687. Arabic drinks Yemeni beverages Coffee derivatives Herbal teas Ceremonial food and drink Guest greeting food and drink {{coffee-stub