Yemen's Renowned Coffee Regions and the Confusing World of Yemeni Coffee Variety Names

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There was a time in the past when most coffee consumed in Europe came from Yemen, yet now Yemen's coffee exports account for less than 1% of the global total. Both ports and growing regions are in a state of war. FrontStreet Coffee's Yemen coffee is already the last batch of Yemen coffee available domestically - it was shipped back via Germany in 2017 when the port was still open, and since then, no large quantities of Yemen coffee have appeared. In 2019, a Yemeni person brought a small amount of coffee to promote domestically, but the quantity was very limited. FrontStreet Coffee believes that although other coffee-producing countries have significantly increased their output, Yemen's influence on today's coffee culture and coffee varieties should not be underestimated.

Yemeni Coffee

Yemen is one of the countries with the longest history of coffee cultivation. The country has greatly influenced global coffee cultivation and secularization. Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia, and devout Muslims and spice merchants from the Arabian Peninsula transformed Ethiopian coffee into an international crop. First, coffee crossed the Red Sea and was transplanted to Yemeni soil for the first time in the 17th century. Arabs themselves drank coffee, traded coffee with Europe, and attempted to monopolize the coffee market. It was through these trade routes that coffee became popular and well-known. In the mid-17th century, the Dutch transplanted coffee from Yemen to Java Island and began developing coffee cultivation there, subsequently planting coffee in other countries.

The Legend of the Coffee Godfather

Yemen is separated from Ethiopia by the Mandeb Strait. In early times, coffee was only used as medicine in Africa. Later, Shadili, an Islamic religious figure from Mocha, Yemen, influenced by the tea culture of China's Ming Dynasty, developed coffee into a refreshing beverage. Due to Islam's prohibition of alcohol, the emergence of coffee beverages provided people with a life调剂品, and it naturally became widely popular. At that time, the popularity of coffee in Arabia was equivalent to our current love for cola.

The Decline of the Coffee Dynasty

Unfortunately, Yemen's coffee culture no longer enjoys its former glory. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, including natural disasters like drought and severe pest infestations, high cultivation costs, cheap imported coffee, and farmers' preference for growing the more profitable khat plant (a plant consumed as tea, with a growing environment similar to coffee trees but shorter harvest time). These factors have all contributed to Yemen's current coffee situation.

What is Mocha Coffee?

The word "Mocha" has multiple meanings. Around 600 AD, the first coffee beans to leave their homeland - Ethiopia - took root and settled on the other side of the Red Sea in Yemen,从此开始了全球的咖啡事业. Since the most important coffee export port in early Yemen was Mocha Port, coffee produced in Yemen came to be called Mocha coffee. Mocha coffee beans are small and fragrant, with strong acidity and mellow flavors, moderate sweetness, and special characteristics. The water-processed coffee beans are quite famous as high-quality coffee.

Over time, some people began using "Mocha" as a nickname for coffee. Later, because the aftertaste of Mocha coffee resembles chocolate, the term "Mocha coffee" was also used to refer to coffee drinks mixed with chocolate.

Since 1933, when Italian Alfonso Bialetti invented the first Moka pot, providing all households with a simple and convenient choice for brewing Italian-style coffee, it's no exaggeration to call BIALETTI the father of the Moka pot as the first choice for home coffee brewing!

Therefore, although they are all "Mocha," Mocha beans, Moka pots, and the Mocha coffee in Italian-style coffee represent three different meanings.

Yemeni Mocha Coffee

Mocha = Chocolate?

Friends who don't often drink coffee have probably heard of Mocha coffee as a beverage. The reason Mocha coffee is popular among the masses is due to its chocolate flavor, so many people equate Mocha with chocolate. Strictly speaking, Mocha coffee beans refer to coffee beans with rich chocolate flavor. At that time, all coffee beans exported from Yemen passed through Mocha Port, so for unified naming, they were all named after the port - this is the origin of Mocha coffee beans. Even though Mocha Port is no longer in use due to sedimentation, Yemen's exported coffee beans still use the name Mocha.

That said, since not everyone can accept coffee's rich flavor, merchants have racked their brains to promote this beverage. The unique chocolate flavor of Mocha coffee beans is very suitable for pairing with chocolate sauce or cocoa powder, and the fusion degree is very high. Therefore, current Mocha coffee usually refers to mixed drinks of coffee beans and chocolate. FrontStreet Coffee uses coffee bean varieties with chocolate flavor to enhance their flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee uses Yemeni Mocha Mattari coffee as an example for brewing.

■ Region: Mattari
■ Altitude: 1400 meters
■ Varieties: Typica, Bourbon
■ Processing: Natural processing method

Roasting Suggestions

Yemeni Mocha belongs to green beans with relatively low moisture content, and considering the uneven size of the beans, the starting temperature should not be too high. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium roasting.

Machine: Yangjia 800N, 550g green beans
Entry temperature: 170°C
Yellowing point: 5'00", 147.2°C
First crack: 8'23", 183.3°C
Development after first crack: 2'20", discharged at 197.9°C

Brewing Suggestions

Filter: Hario V60
Water temperature: 90°C
Coffee dose: 15 grams
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Medium-fine grind (BG#6S)

Brewing Method (Three-Stage Pouring)

There are various brewing methods: three-stage pouring, single continuous pour, drip method, etc. FrontStreet Coffee recommends beginners use the three-stage pouring method for brewing. This technique is suitable for light roast, medium-light roast, and medium roast coffee beans. The segmented extraction method of three-stage pouring can clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of coffee, better ensuring the flavor presentation.

First Pour: Bloom (helps degassing)

Coffee beans undergo a series of chemical reactions and physical changes during the roasting process from green to roasted beans. After reaching a certain degree of roasting, coffee beans accumulate a large amount of gas (mostly carbon dioxide).

Generally, the fresher the coffee and the closer to roasting, the more bubbles usually appear during blooming. Dark roast beans also release more gas during the blooming process than light roast beans. FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans are all freshly roasted, so we generally recommend customers let the beans rest for three days first, allowing the coffee beans to release carbon dioxide first, which can avoid unstable and under-extracted problems during brewing.

After degassing through blooming, coffee particles can absorb water evenly, allowing for more uniform extraction later. Good blooming can make the coffee powder quickly and fully uniform...

Second Pour

The second pour starts from the center, injecting into the bottom of the powder bed with a small water stream. To concentrate the penetrating power of the water stream, the circular movement range should be small, about the size of a coin, and then expand outward. Starting from the second water addition, pay attention to the water volume, trying not to exceed the height of the powder bed - that is, when the water stream approaches the filter paper, you can stop adding water.

Third Pour

As the original thicker powder layer near the filter paper becomes heavier from absorbing water and slides down becoming thinner as the water level drops, you can perform the third pour when the water level drops to half.

Starting from the third water addition, observe the magnitude of the water level drop, also starting from the center and moving in circles, with water volume not exceeding the powder bed height. At this time, you'll also observe that foam proportion already fills the surface. The third pour should increase the tumbling of coffee particles to let all settled particles tumble, thereby dissolving soluble substances.

Tumbling particles will begin to settle when water addition stops. At this time, rely on the flow rate caused by the dropping water level to create friction between coffee particles. Once water addition stops, coffee powder particles sink downward, causing blockage. Therefore, pay special attention to the rhythm of water addition. If there are too many interruptions, it's equivalent to letting coffee powder particles soak in water continuously, which will lead to astringency and off-flavors in the back-end coffee extraction.

Flavor Description

Before grinding, the coffee beans have a peanut aroma. After grinding, there's a caramel fragrance. During slurping, the layers are rich with intense dark chocolate flavor, with a hint of grape acidity appearing in the finish. The spicy aftertaste is long, mouth-watering, and sweetly rounded, with a Middle Eastern milk tea feeling. As the temperature slightly drops, it becomes the flavor of spices and berries.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473