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Jerusalem (Old City) · Palestine

Izhiman Coffee

Since 1921 · Izhiman family (founder name lost to history)

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Overview

Izhiman Coffee is Jerusalem's heritage Palestinian coffee roastery, founded 1921 in the Old City's Suq Khan a-Zeit market just inside Damascus Gate — a continuous family operation now in its fourth generation under Mahmoud Izachman, who founded Jerusalem's first Specialty Coffee Academy. The cardamom-spiced finely-ground house mix combines Brazilian, Colombian, Guatemalan, Costa Rican and Tanzanian beans, and the operation now spans six stores across Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

Known for

  • Palestine's heritage coffee roaster (1921 Old City Jerusalem)
  • 100+ year continuous family operation (4 generations)
  • Founder of Jerusalem's first Specialty Coffee Academy
  • Six-store chain across Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem
  • Cardamom-spiced house qahwa blend

Why it matters

Izhiman has sold continuously from the same Old City Jerusalem location since 1921 — 100+ years through Ottoman dissolution, British Mandate, the 1948 Nakba (when one brother fled to Amman to open a same-named operation), and ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The grandson's modern pivot — founding Jerusalem's first SCA-affiliated Specialty Coffee Academy and adding the Izpresso Nespresso-compatible line — anchors the contemporary specialty coffee culture growing across Jerusalem, Ramallah and even smaller Palestinian cities.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
Mahmoud Izachman (4th generation)
color sorting
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roaster machine
Custom Turkish-built fully-automated 240kg-capacity roaster (2018 upgrade, ~$110,000)
filter equipment
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cupping frequency
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roastery location
Atarot industrial area, Jerusalem
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Suq Khan a-Zeit (Beit Habad Street), Old City Jerusalem (flagship)

Recognitions

  • Jerusalem's longest continuously operating coffee roastery (1921-)
  • Founded Jerusalem's first Specialty Coffee Academy

Sources

More roasters