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Yemen Mocha Mattari

01 | Regional Introduction

The History of Yemen

Yemen, famous for its frankincense or spice trade, is the world's first place to cultivate coffee Mocha.

If traced back to ancient times, this was also where Noah built the ark in the Bible.

Legend has it that 3,000 years ago, the legendary Queen Sheba led a large delegation with gold and spices to Jerusalem to find King Solomon and gave birth to a son. (It is rumored that this son was the first king of Ethiopia)

Regardless, perhaps due to historical reasons since ancient times, it is said that the people of this land still have strong self-esteem and are extremely independent.

Yemen, which continues the lifestyle preserved thousands of years ago, has many places where the central government's ruling power cannot reach. Ethiopia, separated from Yemen by a sea, also exports coffee through the port of Mocha, so Ethiopian sun-processed coffee is often called Mocha (such as Ethiopia Harra Mokka). Yemen Mocha is the originator of the world coffee trade. Yemen contributed greatly to promoting delicious coffee to the world and is called "Arabian Coffee (Arabia)", which is also the origin of the later name "Arabica original species".

It is said that in the 17th century, Europeans first imported coffee and spread it to the world from the world's largest coffee port—the port of Mocha.

Today's "Port of Mocha" has failed to continue its prosperity compared to its former reputation, becoming a historic port with only white sandy beaches.

Even so, it still "spreads far and wide" in the name of coffee.

Although Ethiopia is the first country in the world to discover coffee, Yemen was the first country to produce coffee on a large scale as a crop. In the early 17th century, the first batch of Yemeni coffee was exported to Europe via the ancient small port of Mocha, astonishing Europeans. Because all exported coffee bags had to be printed with the MOCHA mark to prove they were transported from the port of Mocha, Europeans called the delicious coffee from the port of Mocha "Mocha coffee." This is why early Mocha became synonymous with coffee.

Yemeni coffee grows on steep slopes with little rainfall, poor soil, and insufficient sunlight. These unique and difficult conditions unfavorable to coffee cultivation have nurtured the irreplaceable Yemen Mocha in the coffee world. The main coffee producing areas are Sanani, Mattari, and Ismaili.

The Mattari producing area is located on the high ground west of the capital, with an altitude of 2000-2400 meters. It is the highest altitude producing area in Yemen, but its location is the most remote and transportation is inconvenient. Farmers often have to wait for a period of time after harvesting before they can transport it out.

02 | Processing Method

Ancient Natural Sun-Drying Method

Yemen is a classic of ancient natural sun-dried flavor and the world's only fully natural coffee-producing country. The traditional processing method without water washing has remained unchanged since the 17th century when Europeans became fascinated with wild Mocha. This is related to Yemen's extremely dry climate. Coffee is mainly planted in the central highlands, with an average annual rainfall of only 400-750 mm, far below the optimal 1,500-2,000 mm rainfall for Arabica.

Due to the water-scarce environment, farmers have been unable to introduce more advanced water washing methods. The wild flavor surpasses Harar coffee, making Yemen the best choice for experiencing ancient flavors.

The central highlands of Yemen have rolling mountains, rugged terrain, and small farmers mostly adopt a fragmented planting method. Several plants are planted on steep slopes, dozens on terraces or cliffs, each with different soil, water, and microclimates, resulting in different aromatic components.

Yemeni farmers' natural sun-drying processing method is rougher than Ethiopia's. Coffee cherries are not picked when they turn red but are left to naturally dry on the branches until they turn purplish-black and fall to the ground before being collected. This differs from the refined sun-drying of Yirgacheffe or Sidamo, where red cherries are picked and spread on "raised African beds." This is the main reason why Yemen's wild flavor is particularly strong.

Yemen's natural sun-drying method involves manually harvesting fully ripe coffee beans and then placing the freshly harvested beans directly in dedicated coffee drying fields or their own compacted mud front yards to receive sun exposure. During the sun-drying period, similar to drying rice in Taiwan, wooden rakes are used to turn the beans to ensure each bean dries evenly. After about twenty days of drying, the outer pulp and skin are removed to extract the coffee beans. Yemeni coffee has rich, complex, wild, and mellow flavors, with strong fermentation notes and lower acidity. Additionally, Yemeni coffee often contains an uncertain factor (the timing of seasonal rainfall) that makes it unpredictable, making it no exaggeration to call it the world's most special coffee.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

The grades of Mocha are divided into: Sanani

Due to Yemen's low annual coffee production, only about 35% is Mocha Sanani and Mocha Mattari, which can be considered the better quality among Yemeni coffees.

Coffee from the Mattari producing area has the characteristics of "unattractive" appearance, inconsistent size, and considerable color variation, looking like a composition of small pea-shaped and empty shell defective beans.

Green Bean Information:

Yemen Mocha Mattari

Country: Yemen

Region: Mattari

Altitude: 1,300~1,900m

Varietal: Typica, Bourbon

Process: Natural / Sundried

Because the bean shape is very small, some people also call it small Mocha. Mocha is a flat bean, not a round bean, small but fragrant.

04 | Roasting Analysis

Yemen Mocha belongs to green beans with relatively low moisture content. Considering the inconsistent size of the beans, the drop temperature for low-moisture green beans should not be too high. Steam for 30 seconds, open the air damper to 3, until the green beans turn light green or white, open the air damper to 4, and after first crack, open to 5 (maximum).

FrontStreet Coffee suggests making data records before roasting, including coffee bean moisture content, density, origin, processing method, roasting environment temperature and humidity in the roasting room, etc., and planning your roasting curve. Record relevant chemical and physical change phenomena during the roasting process, which will help you better understand the final roasting results and improve the roasting curve.

Roaster: Yangjia 800N, 550g green beans input

Roasting Curve:

Heat the drum to 170°C, air damper at 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 140°C, air damper unchanged. Roast to 5'00", temperature 147.2°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration completed. Adjust heat to 110°C, air damper to 4.

At the 8'00 minute, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, the toast smell obviously turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'23" first crack begins, adjust heat to 60°C, air damper fully open (adjust heat very carefully, not so small that there's no cracking sound). Drop at 197.9°C.

Cupping Report:

Medium Roast City (Caramel Aroma): Before grinding, the coffee beans have a peanut aroma. After grinding, there's a caramel fragrance. During sipping, the layers are complex, with a hint of grape acidity appearing at the end of changes in the mouth. The spicy aftertaste is long, with smooth sweetness return and saliva production, maintaining a Middle Eastern milk tea feeling for a long time. The cup bottom has malt sweetness. Medium-roasted Yemen Mocha will continue to change. It's recommended to brew 7-14 days after roasting when the complex wild fermentation flavor is best.

04 | Brewing Analysis

The condition of the coffee bed in pour-over brewing cannot be ignored, this must be emphasized! The coffee bed plays a subtle role, one of which is to provide resistance, allowing hot water to stay in the filter cup long enough to ensure sufficient flavor components are extracted. For medium roast, the coffee bed must also have certain support to perform the "blocking" function. To prevent weakening the coffee bed's support, one must master [water column intensity], [pouring position], plus [stable circular pouring technique] to form a complete [pouring technique].

1. Filter: V60

2. Water temperature: 88°C

3. Grind size: Fuji grinder setting 4

4. Roast degree: Medium roast

5. Bloom time: 25 seconds

Flavor: Balanced, chocolate, persistent caramel sweetness in aftertaste

FrontStreet Coffee recommends technique: 15g coffee, Fuji grinder with ghost teeth setting 4, V60 filter cup, 88-89°C water temperature. First pour 30g water, bloom for 25s. Pour to 104g and stop pouring. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again. Slowly pour until 220g water, don't use the last 5g. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time about 2:00 (calculated from the end of bloom pour)

Related recommendations: Description of flavor and taste characteristics of Yemeni coffee, Is Yemen Mocha coffee delicious?

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