The Origin of Mocha Coffee - Yemen Coffee History_ Which Yemen Mocha Coffee Bean Brand is Best on Taobao

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Yemen's Turbulent History

Since 2014, Yemen has been trapped in endless years of war and turmoil. Last week, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum released the global competitiveness ranking of various economies, with Yemen ranking 137th and last. The World Economic Forum described Yemen as a country "further devastated by civil war, economic collapse, cholera, and near-famine conditions."

A Glimmer of Hope

However, recently, people may have seen hope that the situation is improving. According to Arab media Alarabiya, Yemen's Environment and Water Minister Ezzi Shuraim visited Taiz two weeks ago. This was the first visit by a Yemeni government official to this city, which was recently liberated from Houthi armed forces. Ezzi Shuraim met with local government officials. In addition to discussing the city's recovery and reconstruction, he also mentioned a coastal city called Mocha in western Taiz and discussed plans to possibly build a desalination plant there in the future.

The Origins of Mocha Coffee

Coffee lovers might wonder why this seaside town called Mocha shares the same name as the beloved flavored coffee? The answer is, this is no coincidence, because the name Mocha coffee originated right here, although this connection dates back hundreds of years.

If we turn back time to the late 17th to early 18th century, as a port city, Mocha was a prosperous commercial port with developed maritime trade. Many merchant ships loaded with coffee beans produced in this country, which had wild cocoa flavors, would cross the Red Sea and Mediterranean, eventually becoming a fascinating black beverage with chocolate flavor on European dining tables: coffee.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the early 18th century was precisely the golden age of Yemen-Europe coffee trade, which directly laid the foundation for European coffee culture and later expanded to North America, Asia, and other regions. One could say that without Yemen's "Mocha," coffee, as one of the world's three major beverages, would not have become globally popular.

Yemen's Historical Connection to Coffee

Don't misunderstand - Ethiopia is indeed the homeland of coffee, but according to historical records from the World Coffee Research (WCR), as early as the 5th century BC, Yemen's Mocha port welcomed the first batch of coffee beans from Ethiopia, marking the beginning of Yemen's connection with coffee. Coffee first appeared in human history as a beverage in the Yemeni city of Zabid.

Coffee research author Mark Pendergrast introduces in her book that in 1450, drinking coffee became an essential practice for Yemeni Arab Sufi believers before evening prayers to maintain mental clarity during prayer sessions. This initially medicinal or religious beverage quickly entered people's daily lives. In 1517, Ottoman Turks incorporated Yemen into their territory. Through the promotion of this once-powerful empire, coffee's reputation spread rapidly.

At the end of the 15th century, Muslim pilgrims further promoted coffee throughout the Islamic world. To meet growing consumer demand, Yemenis began to grow their own coffee, making Yemen the first country in the world to produce coffee as an agricultural crop on a large scale. Soon, people discovered that this plant could only be grown in high-altitude areas. Therefore, the "Mocha" port, adjacent to highlands and with relatively well-developed port infrastructure, became the most suitable location for coffee export.

Mocha Port: The Gateway to Global Coffee

In the early 17th century, the Dutch were the first to establish coffee trading companies, and coffee began to be exported from Mocha port to Europe. From Amsterdam to Paris in the Western European market, people began to use "Mocha" to refer to this refreshing black beverage. "Because most beans were exported from Yemen's Mocha port to other countries, people used the port's name to refer to Yemen's coffee." Due to its unique chocolate aroma, people later collectively called flavored coffee with added cocoa milk or chocolate syrup "Mocha."

Yemen Coffee Today

Yemen's coffee production is now far from what it used to be. Mocha is no longer the center of global coffee and has long lost its function as a commercial port. However, Yemen still produces some of the world's most unique coffee beans. For example, Yemen Mocha Mattari is still a bean that drives true coffee enthusiasts wild.

It comes from the Bany Mattar province west of Yemen's capital, where local coffee farmers still continue ancient coffee production and cultivation traditions: avoiding chemical fertilizers and other artificial chemicals as much as possible, and planting poplar trees to provide the shade space needed for coffee growth. Just as hundreds of years ago, these trees are planted on steep terraces. On barren, dry land, small, light green coffee beans grow. After deep roasting, they reveal chocolate-like tempting bitter-sweet flavors, as well as complex aromas of red wine, tobacco, and cinnamon, plus a long, creamy aftertaste. Additionally, due to scarce production, Yemen's Mocha coffee is becoming increasingly precious in the market. In 2016, the price of Yemen coffee averaged $173 per pound in the United States.

Although Yemen's coffee trade is far from its former glory, it still maintains certain unique advantages. On one hand, top varieties of Yemen Mocha coffee such as Mattari and Ismaili remain extremely valuable in the coffee market and are specialty coffees that coffee enthusiasts enthusiastically seek.

On the other hand, according to analysis by the International Coffee Organization (ICO), consumers in Western countries have increasingly preferred high-quality, affordable single-origin coffee in recent years. Yemen still maintains an annual coffee production of over 10,000 tons while truly possessing the selling points of being organic and pollution-free that Western countries value. If coffee bean picking, drying, and roasting techniques can be improved, and quality control systems established to enable more beans to meet the import standards of developed countries, there is still great room for upward development. Perhaps, in addition to relying on foreign forces to build desalination plants, the coffee crops grown in this land may also bring some hope to this country troubled by war and division in the future.

In Yemeni cities, you can also find specialty coffees made with local Mocha coffee.

Yemen Mocha Coffee Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Yemen Mocha coffee beans offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. A 227-gram package costs only 85 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams per cup of coffee, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 6 yuan. Compared to cafes selling coffee for tens of yuan per cup, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

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

Important Notice :

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