What Does the Yemen Coffee Brand Sanani Mean? Are Yemen Mocha Coffee Beans Expensive?

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

This installment looks at the Yemen coffee brand Mocha Sanani and asks whether Yemen Mocha coffee beans are expensive.

Yemen Coffee Bean Brand - Mocha Sanani Coffee Beans

Yemen Mocha Sanani

When it comes to coffee beans from Yemen and Ethiopia, many people immediately associate them with "Mocha."

(Mocca, Mocha, Moka, Mokha, Mokka... whichever spelling you encounter, they all refer to essentially the same thing. Here we will use "Mocha" to represent them all.)

In the modern 21st century, when people mention Mocha coffee, many recognize it as "coffee with chocolate added."

That is indeed a way of preparing coffee, but the word "Mocha" originally referred to the export port of coffee's origin, Yemeni coffee beans. After five hundred years, the Port of Mocha has of course been destroyed and is no longer in use.

It has been replaced by modern new ports, but the word "Mocha" has been passed down through time, preserving its ancient legacy.

Five hundred years ago, Yemeni coffee beans exported from Yemen were extremely popular upon reaching Europe.

The production volume of Yemeni coffee beans, however, is extremely low. So, using the same natural processing method, Ethiopia, just across the gulf from Yemen, also exported through the Port of Mocha.

That is why today, when people mention "Mocha beans," they typically associate them with coffee beans from Yemen and Ethiopia.

In reality, the first beans introduced to the West were Yemeni coffee beans, while Ethiopia was the first place where coffee was discovered. Later, both came to be generally called Mocha beans.

In practice, though, their cupping profiles reveal distinctly different flavors. There is no superior or inferior here; it all comes down to personal preference.

Ethiopian coffee will be mentioned only briefly here.

Yemeni coffee beans are among the most unique and acclaimed coffees in the world.

They are generally described as wild and primitive, with earthy notes, complexity, spice, and chocolate flavors.

(This is precisely why coffee with chocolate added came to be called Mocha coffee.)

Mocha represents three layers of meaning:

1. The Port of Mocha; 2. Coffee produced in Yemen and Ethiopia; 3. Coffee with chocolate added.

Yemen has many coffee-producing regions, including Sanani, Mattari, Hirazi, Dhamari, Rimy, and more.

Beans from each region have their own characteristics, with slightly different flavors and textures.

What they share is that their cultivation and processing methods have not advanced much compared with five hundred years ago.

Wild-grown, and therefore natural and pesticide-free; manually harvested; limited growing areas, and therefore low production volume.

Natural-processed, resulting in a less attractive bean appearance than washed beans and uneven particle sizes; stone-ground for hulling, resulting in many broken beans.

As the first coffee-exporting country, after five hundred years of development, Yemen ranks 46th in the world in coffee bean export volume.

Far behind, yes, and though the figure may fluctuate slightly, the changes will not be significant.

Sanani is grown in the highlands surrounding Yemen's capital, Sana.

Compared with other Yemeni beans, it is famous for its aroma and balanced flavor profile.

Sanani is elegant, with subtle tobacco and chocolate notes.

It has lower acidity than other Yemeni beans, but its aroma, especially its fruity notes, is richer.

With a red wine-like texture and a long-lasting aromatic aftertaste, it suits both light and dark roasts, making it highly recommended.

Yemen Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Yemen Mocha coffee beans offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide exceptional value for money: a 227-gram package costs only 85 yuan. At 15 grams per cup, one package makes 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 6 yuan. Compared with coffee shops selling cups for dozens of yuan each, this is a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Mocha is closely tied to Ethiopia as well as Yemen, and FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian selection is a good way to explore that heritage. Its entry-level washed Yirgacheffe shows clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, with a light, elegant, tea-like body that drinks like a clean lemon tea.

FrontStreet Coffee's Gutingding comes from the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe; originally part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union, it became an independent Gutingding cooperative in 2012 with about 300 member farmers. Pulping the fruit before drying lets its inherent aromatics come through clearly, with citrus and lemon character and elegant white florals.

For a natural-process cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Red Cherry dries whole cherries in the sun for two weeks until the fruit's sugar and essence have soaked into the bean and moisture falls to 12%, then hulls the dried fruit and parchment; the result is clean and intensely fruity, described as peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon. FrontStreet Coffee's Kafa Forest, from Ethiopia's Kafa Biosphere Reserve at 1,400-2,100 meters, is a medium-light roast with white florals, bright lemon acidity, sweet orange, bergamot, and a green-tea-like body.