Coffees from Africa and Asia: Yemen
The popular Mocha coffee can be traced to having been grown in the mountains of Yemen hundreds of years ago. It can be spelled as “Moka,” “Mocca,” or “Moca.” It was first grown in the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Some coffees resemble Mocha from Yemen. That is coffee from eastern Ethiopia from the eastern town of Harar. That coffee is sold as Mocha because the two share many similarities. The Yemen Mocha is chocolaty. Coffee from Yemen and that from Ethiopia taste like coffee and hot chocolate.
The Arabian Mocha is the world’s most traditional coffee grown in the central mountains of Yemen over 500 years ago. It was grown on terraces on the mountainsides. Ripe beans were picked, dried, and spread to sundry when clouds dissipated. Water was collected during winter in small reservoirs to irrigate the plants to keep them alive during summer.
Yemen has been processing coffee for centuries. The cherries are dried with the beans inside. After drying, the husk is removed using a millstone, giving rough irregular beans. Donkeys or gasoline engines turned the millstones.
The millstones broke the coffee husks and used to make a sweet drink called qishr. The shells were combined with spiced to make a refreshing afternoon beverage. Yemenis drank ground and roast coffee only in the morning, during prayers, and after bathing.
The dominant coffee variety in Yemen is Arabica, similar to the one in Ethiopia. However, hundreds of names refer to coffee varieties in Yemen. The most popular one is called Ismaili, which produces small rounded beans similar to split peas.
In the market, you are going to get Yemen coffee with a variety of names. The distinction is majorly based on the district where they are grown. Major types are Ismaili grown in the Bani Ismaili district. Mattari comes from Bani Mattar in Sana’a district. Hirazi is grown in the mountains west of Sana’a. Finally, Sanani is a coffee blend from the western regions of Sana’a.
Tracing coffee’s roots back to Al-Mokha, Yemen
Yemen’s coffee exports account for up to 1% of global coffee production. Ninety percent of the world’s coffee can be traced to Yemen. In addition, coffee brings sustainable income to farmers despite struggling with economic and security challenges.
Port Al-Mokha supplies the words coffee.
Coffee produced in Yemen was exported through the Port of Al-Mokha onto the Red Sea. Then, they were shipped to Europe by water. On arrival, the beans were loaded on camels and taken to Alexandria, Egypt’s capital. The Dutch used wooden boats to transport the coffee to the European market. They sold it as Mocha.
The Ottomans managed to build a monopoly by ensuring no other country produced coffee. They boiled and roasted the beans partially before export. This worked for 150 years before the rise of Europeans, and the Ottomans lost their lucrative monopoly.
Al-Mokha Mochaccino
Bana Budan, a Muslim pilgrim, managed to smuggle seven seedlings and cultivated them successfully in southern India in the 1600s. He is credited for the fall of the Ottoman Stranglehold. The Dutch started growing coffee on Java island in Indonesia.
Yemen and the Ottoman Empire lost their monopoly on the global coffee trade. For example, 90% of coffee drank in Amsterdam was grown in Yemen, but five years later, 90% of coffee came from java island.
Coffee planting was spread to all colonized countries. Several principles contributed to the spread of coffee across the world. Typica and Bourbon is the most culturally and genetically group of coffee. The variety dominates in Brazil, Latin America, India, and Indonesia. All the Arabica coffee being consumed today is from coffee descendants from Yemen.
Mokha became accessible from the Italian Moka to the Starbucks chocolate-infused Frappuccino. The combination of coffee and chocolate comes from the Betty Crocker recipe of 1892. Unfortunately, the port of Al-Mokha obscured the importance of coffee to Yemen’s history.
Yemeni coffee is re-emerging on the world stage.
The coffee production spotlight slowly lost focus on Yemen and landed in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Yemen’s landscape is crooked and rugged, but when appropriately farmed, that coffee flourishes well. Yemen farmers use organic methods like ash and moisture incubation and using organic manure to farm.
Coffee in Yemen is majorly grown on the mountainsides. However, the struggle with geopolitical conflicts has created hindrances for producers to access the international market. That has led to a decline in coffee production.
However, the country has a promising potential for future dominance in the world market when things improve.
From Mochaccino back to Mokha
The biggest challenge for Yemen coffee is the producers’ disconnect from the international markets. Farmers sell coffee at $1 and $2 per kg in the local market, which is not sustainable for the farmers in this production. However, access to the international market could make the sellers make up to $8 per kg. Therefore, Yemen is working on improving the quality of coffee products to help it reclaim its position in the world coffee market.
Yemeni coffee will cost you $240 per pound.
These hard-to-find chocolaty beans from Mocha will cost you $240 per pound. Critics say that Yemen coffee has declined in quality by introducing weird defects. However, premium-quality beans are being imported into the USA first time, and they are in high demand. The port of Mokha started exporting coffee in the early 1400s.
Port of Mokha has been roasting and selling its beans online. Mocha’s reputation makes it fetch up to $12 for four ounces. Mokhtar pays farmers 12 times the regular rates per kilo, i.e., $6.5. That will ensure strict picking protocols, sorting, and financing of equipment upgrades and necessities.
Yemen coffee profile
Yemen coffee beans are often referred to as coffee beans called the “Yemen mocha.” This name refers to the classic coffee beans organically grown in the area.
These beans are smooth, earthy, and complex. They seem to have a rich and winey acidity with hints of spices, cinnamon, and raisins, before finishing with a distinctive chocolate note. Sometimes, this is accompanied by an overtone of earthy, woody, or even tobacco.
But it is that chocolate note that captures the attention of everybody. And if you wonder–yes, it was efforts to imitate it that led people to add chocolate to drinks, creating the modern term “mocha.” But, of course, you’ll also hear a lot about Yemen’s “white coffee”–that’s what it’s all about.
Top Yemen coffee beans you can buy on Amazon Today
Yemen Volcanica Coffee
Al Mokha: The World’s First Coffee. Yemen Medium Roast
Teasia Coffee Yemen Mocca Sanani Medium Roast
Mocha Yemeni Coffee Single Origin Organic Roasted Whole Bean
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Disclosure: No compensation or free products were received in exchange for writing this review.
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