Flavor Profile of Yemen Mokha Mattari Coffee Beans - How Should Yemen Mokha Be Brewed?

The Legacy of Yemen Mocha

Yemen was the first country to treat coffee as a cash crop. Legend holds that it arrived in the 6th century with Islamic Sufi pilgrims from Ethiopia. The most accurate spelling of the name is "Al-Mahka," which is how it is written in Arabic. The coffee grows on steep terrain with little rainfall, poor soil and limited sunlight, conditions that are uniquely difficult and unfavorable for cultivation. And yet those very conditions gave us the irreplaceable Yemen Mocha. Most wild Yemeni coffee is left untended, maturing naturally before it falls and sun-dries on the tree; farmers do little more than gather it. The overall character is wild and natural, with earthy notes and remarkable complexity. For some drinkers the spiciness can feel sharp, but either way, this is a coffee worth taking your time with. If it wins you over completely, it may well mark the start of an entirely new coffee journey.

Yemen sits in Asia, facing Ethiopia across the Red Sea, and it is the finest producer of naturally sun-dried coffee. Coffee from Yemen is called Mocha. Mocha, in fact, is an export port: in the early days, naturally sun-dried beans from nearby East Africa were also shipped around the world through the port of Mocha, so sun-dried beans from this whole region, Yemen and Ethiopia alike, came to be known collectively as Mocha.

Yemen's natural sun-dried method begins with the hand-picking of fully ripe cherries, which are then spread out directly on dedicated drying grounds or on the family's own compacted earthen courtyard to dry in the sun. During drying, wooden rakes are used to turn the beans for even results, much as rice is turned on a drying floor in Taiwan. After about twenty days, when drying is complete, the outer pulp and skin are removed to release the beans. Yemeni coffee is rich, complex and wild, with mellow, powerful fermented flavors and lower acidity. It also carries an unpredictable element, the timing of the seasonal rains, that makes it genuinely hard to forecast, which is why it is fair to call it the most special coffee in the world.

Yemeni coffee grows on steep ridges with little rainfall, poor soil and limited sunlight. These uniquely demanding conditions, so unfavorable to cultivation, have given the coffee world the irreplaceable Yemen Mocha. The main growing regions are Sanani, Matari and Ismaili.

The Yemen Mattari Highlands

In the Mattari highlands, coffee grows just steps from farmers' backyards. Most of the terrain is rugged, poor, volcanic rock. Wild varieties with no verifiable documentation are the most common form of Yemen Mocha. In 2012, as people struggled for peace, Yemeni bean exports stopped altogether, leaving us to wait and hope.

Rarely can a coffee be at once wild, gamey, wine-like and fig-sweet while also being gentle, versatile and deeply chocolatey. Once praised as the "wine of Arabia," Yemen Mocha is a blessing of the land. Because the earliest coffee trade was shipped from Yemen's port of Mocha, many people mistakenly believe Yemen is coffee's birthplace; even today, some Europeans still tend to call coffee "Mocha." Since the 17th century, the dry Arabian soil and the lack of moisture in the air have produced beans that are especially hard and small. Mocha production has always been constrained by regional political turmoil and by cultivation that never reaches an economic scale. Among these coffees, Mattari stands out for a sweet, smooth and uniquely fragrant mouthfeel; with its light acidity and long finish, it is arguably the finest coffee for pairing after a meal, and the finest of all Mochas.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yemen Mocha Mattari

FrontStreet Coffee's Yemen Mocha Mattari, perhaps because of Yemen's growing methods and its ancient sun-dried processing, has a nostalgic quality on the palate. Wild and untamed, its rich chocolate flavor on entry is intoxicating, and as the cup cools a little, a sweet-and-sour grape sensation spreads across the whole mouth.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendation

V60 / 89°C / 1:15 ratio / 2 minutes

Flavor notes: dark chocolate, grape, spices

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the wild, ferment-forward character of Yemen Mocha appeals to you, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian lineup is the closest gateway into that same African terroir. FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe is the classic entry point, with clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, a light and elegant body and a tea-like finish; the washed process keeps the cup clean and transparent from start to finish.

To lean further into fruit and wine-like depth, try FrontStreet Gedeb Cooperative, a washed Yirgacheffe-style coffee with bright citrus and lemon acidity and elegant white florals, or FrontStreet Sun-Dried Huakui from Hambella in Guji, processed the traditional natural way on raised beds and roasted medium-light for a rich, complex cup of gentle fermented wine, florals, citrus and mango, with honeyed sweetness, a cocoa note, a touch of spice and a thick, long-lasting finish. For a fruitier everyday cup, FrontStreet Sun-Dried Red Cherry delivers peach, cocoa, honey and lemon in the classic Yirgacheffe style.