Coffee culture

What are the types of Yemen Mocha coffee beans_Yemen Mocha coffee bean ranking_characteristics of single-origin Mocha coffee beans

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee
Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange For more coffee bean information please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style) Yemen's coffee producing areas: Yemen produces Peaberry beans: This type of coffee bean is smaller and rounder than most coffee beans, looking like peas, and is sometimes called Mocha coffee beans. The appearance of Mocha coffee beans is similar to that of Harar from Ethiopia

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

Yemen's Coffee Origins:

Yemen produces peaberry coffee beans: These coffee beans are smaller and rounder than most coffee beans, resembling peas, and are sometimes called mocha coffee beans. The appearance of mocha coffee beans is similar to Ethiopia's Harrar coffee beans - they are small in size, highly acidic, and mixed with a strange and indescribable spicy flavor. When tasted carefully, you can also discern a hint of chocolate flavor, making the attempt to add chocolate to coffee a natural development process.

In Yemen, coffee growers plant poplar trees to provide the necessary shade for coffee trees. As in the past, these trees are planted on steep terraces to maximize the use of limited rainfall and land resources. In addition to Typica and Bourbon coffee trees, more than ten different coffee tree species native to Ethiopia are also cultivated in Yemen. Authentic "Mocha coffee" is only produced in the Republic of Yemen on the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, growing on steep mountain slopes at altitudes of 3,000 to 8,000 feet, and is also the world's oldest coffee.

● Mokha Mattari:

A renowned coffee market name from Mattari in the Bani Mattar region west of Yemen's capital Sana'a. This is high-altitude coffee, typically characterized by excellent red wine aroma, dried fruit flavors, full-bodied texture, and often displays bittersweet chocolate notes when dark roasted. High-quality Mattari beans are small in size, with raw beans emitting an intoxicating sweet wine fragrance and moderate fermented fruit flavors. They always emerge as winners due to their more pronounced Yemeni style.

● Mokha San'ani:

A broad market name for coffee from various growing areas west of Yemen's capital Sana'a. It's a blend from tens of thousands of small farms on the slopes near the capital San'a (left photo: Yemen's capital Sana'a). Grown at slightly lower altitudes than Mattari, it generally has a lighter body and lower acidity than Mattari, but with good fruit aromas, often exhibiting better ripe fruit and wild flavors than Mattari. Based on my experience, the quality gap of San'ani has been quite large in recent years, with some inferior products showing flat flavors, earthy notes, and excessive fermentation. Careful cupping selection is essential work for coffee merchants - absolutely no cutting corners.

● Mokha Ismaili:

One of the traditional ancient varieties, a market name for famous coffee from central Yemen, also described as a botanical classification of traditional Yemeni coffee with high beverage quality. Grown at very high altitudes, above 6,500 feet, characterized by rounder bean shapes and smaller size than Mattari, with full body and high complexity. Generally, it often outperforms Mattari. This is the least produced and most expensive Yemeni mocha (and Yemeni mocha was already not cheap). Premium Mokha Ismaili is produced in the Hirazi region (though not as famous as Bani Matar, it's the best-regarded producing area locally by Yemeni standards) on high mountain slopes, with the highest altitude in Hirazi reaching 8,000 feet!

● Mokha Rimi:

Produced in the Djebel Remi (also known as Raimi, Rayma) region, quality similar to San'ani. Mokha Rimi typically has slightly stronger fermentation notes, occasionally exhibiting surprisingly rich raisin sweetness. When properly roasted, the coffee beans smell like opening a bottle of rich jam.

● Mokha Yafeh:

Produced in Yemen's southern Yafeh (also known as Yaffe) province, this is an uncommon Yemeni mocha and the only "southern flavor" in Yemen. Production is also limited, with almost all exports going to neighboring United Arab Emirates, making it rarely seen in the international specialty coffee market.

● Arabian Mocha:

A single-origin coffee from the mountains of Yemen on the southwestern Arabian Peninsula bordering the Red Sea. Among the world's best cultivated coffees, it's famous for its high viscosity and special rich wine-like acidity.

Yemeni mochas achieve different schools based on their growing regions, much like the chocolate and acidity of MATTARI mocha, and the wildness and fragrance of SANANI mocha.

● Characteristics of Yemeni Mocha Coffee Beans:

Although Yemeni coffee is high-quality, smooth and aromatic, it has its shortcomings - quality cannot be consistently guaranteed, and its bean grade classification is also uncertain. Traditionally, Yemen's best coffee beans come from Mattari, followed by Sharki, and then Sanani. These coffee beans have low caffeine content. Dark-roasted Yemeni coffee often displays chocolate-like bittersweet notes, influencing today's chocolate-flavored specialty coffees to also be labeled "mocha." Yemeni coffee possesses the world's most unique, rich, and fascinating complex aromas: red wine fragrance, wildness, dried fruit flavors, blueberry, grape, cinnamon, tobacco, sweet spices, woody notes, and even chocolate - you can see various adjectives used to describe Yemeni mocha. Just as mocha has many meanings, its English spelling also varies: Moka, Moca, and Mocca are all common spellings. On Yemeni coffee sacks and documents, local spellings number as many as four: "Mokha", "Makha", "Morkha", "Mukha" - all representing the same meaning.

Yemeni mocha has complex and changing flavors. For coffee roasters, how to roast Yemeni mocha to bring out its best flavors is a major challenge! Light to medium roasts reveal fruity sweet aromas, gentle, warm natural fermentation notes; dark roasts reveal rich red wine fragrance and bittersweet chocolate aftertaste.

Flavor: Exotic flavor, slightly winey, spicy and stimulating, distinctive, a must-try

Recommended roasting method: Medium roast

★★★: Excellent

● Recommended Single-Origin Yemeni Mocha Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted single-origin mocha coffee beans - [Yemen Mocha Mattari Traditional Natural] offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value-for-money, with a half-pound (227g) package priced at around 85 yuan. Calculating at 15g per pour-over coffee, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each Americano costing only about 5-6 yuan. Compared to café prices that often reach dozens of yuan per cup, this represents exceptional value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

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