How is the Quality of Yemen Coffee Beans and How to Roast Them

Yemen Coffee: Quality and How to Roast It

Mocha Grading: Sanani

Because Yemen's annual coffee production is low, only about 35% of it consists of Mocha Sanani and Mocha Mattari, which can be considered the higher-quality Yemeni coffees.

The Mattari Growing Region

Coffee from the Mattari growing region is notable for its "unattractive" appearance: uneven in size with significant variation in color, looking like a mixture of small peas and empty, defective beans.

Green Bean Information

Yemen Mocha Mattari

Country: Yemen

Region: Mattari

Altitude: 1,300~1,900m

Varietal: Typica, Bourbon

Process: Natural / sun-dried

Because of their very small bean size, these beans are also called "small Mocha." Mocha beans are flat rather than round, small yet aromatic.

Roasting Analysis

Yemen Mocha belongs to the group of green beans with relatively low moisture content. Given the uneven bean size, the charge temperature for a low-moisture bean should not be too high. Steam for 30 seconds with the damper open to 3, until the beans turn light green or white, then open the damper to 4, and after first crack open it to 5, the maximum.

FrontStreet Coffee suggests keeping detailed records before roasting: bean moisture content, density, origin, processing method, roasting room temperature and humidity, and so on, then planning your roasting curve. Record the relevant chemical and physical changes during the roast, because that helps you understand the final result and improve your curve.

Roaster: Yangjia 800N, 550g of green beans loaded

Roasting Curve:

Preheat the drum to 170 degrees Celsius and open the damper to 3. After 1 minute, adjust the heat to 140 degrees Celsius with the damper unchanged. Roast to 5'00" at 147.2 degrees Celsius, when the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy aroma disappears completely, and dehydration is complete. Adjust the heat to 110 degrees Celsius and the damper to 4.

At 8'00" ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly transforms into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. Listen carefully for the sound of first crack, which begins at 8'23". Adjust the heat down to 60 degrees Celsius and open the damper fully. Adjust the heat very carefully, not so low that the cracking sound stops. Drop at 197.9 degrees Celsius.

Cupping Report

Medium Roast City (Caramel Aroma): Before grinding, the beans have a peanut aroma. After grinding, there is a caramel fragrance. On slurping, complex layers emerge with a slight grape acidity at the end of the palate. The spicy aftertaste is long, with a sweet, rounded mouthfeel that has a Middle Eastern milk tea quality and lasts a considerable time. The residue in the cup has a malt sweetness. Medium-roasted Yemen Mocha continues to develop, so it is best brewed 7-14 days after roasting, when the complex wild fermented flavors are at their peak.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yemen Mocha is a natural, sun-dried coffee, and its wild, fermented, wine-like complexity is the kind of flavor that natural processing does best. If that style appeals to you but you want something more readily available, FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Sun-Dried Typica is a good place to start. It is grown by FrontStreet Coffee in Yunnan, where the company has been planting coffee in Lincang since 2013, choosing the land, breeding, planting, and managing the trees step by step. The variety is Typica, an excellent member of the Arabica family, processed naturally and roasted medium, which brings out high dried-fruit sweetness with plum, brown sugar, and chocolate.

If you prefer a medium roast that is clean and sweet rather than wild, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen's Farm is worth trying. It is a yellow bourbon, an uncommon variety and a strong one, from a specialty estate in Brazil, and natural processing gives the coffee noticeable sweetness. Roasted medium, it shows nut, cream, and cane sugar flavors with a soft fruit acidity, and it works in nearly any brewer, pour-over, French press, moka pot, or espresso machine. For a slightly brighter medium roast, FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Sun-Dried Typica brings nut, brown sugar, black tea, and dried apricot into an easygoing, well-balanced cup that suits pour-over, cold brew, and a drip machine.

Because the beans are low in moisture and uneven in size, roast gently and start with a moderate charge temperature, then let the coffee rest. FrontStreet Coffee suggests brewing these medium roasts at a moderate, not boiling, water temperature so the caramel and dried-fruit sweetness comes forward without a scorched edge.