Yemen Mocha is a Niche Coffee Bean - Where to Buy Yemen Mocha Coffee Beans

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Introduction to Yemen Mocha Coffee Bean Origins

Yemen produces peaberry beans: These coffee beans are smaller and rounder than most coffee beans, resembling peas, and are sometimes referred to as Mocha coffee beans. The appearance of Mocha coffee beans is similar to Ethiopian Harrar coffee beans—they are small in size, high in acidity, and mixed with a peculiar and indescribable spicy flavor. With careful tasting, you can also discern a hint of chocolate flavor, making the attempt to add chocolate to coffee a natural evolutionary 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 utilization 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 beans" are produced only in the Republic of Yemen on the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, growing on steep mountain slopes at altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 feet, and represent the world's most ancient cultivated coffee.

Yemen Mocha Varieties

Mokha Mattari

A prestigious market name for coffee from the Mattari region in Bani Mattar (also spelled Bany Mattar) province, west of Yemen's capital Sana'a. This is high-altitude coffee, typically exhibiting excellent red wine aroma, dried fruit flavors, rich body, and often displays bittersweet chocolate notes when dark roasted. High-quality Mattari beans are small in size, with green beans offering a fragrant sweet wine aroma and moderate fermented fruit notes. It consistently emerges as a winner due to its more pronounced Yemeni character.

Mokha San'ani

A broad market name for coffee from various growing areas west of Yemen's capital Sana'a. This is a blend from tens of thousands of small farms on the slopes near the capital San'a (left image: Yemen's capital Sana'a). Grown at slightly lower altitudes than Mattari, it generally has a lighter body than Mattari, lower acidity, but good fruit aromas, often displaying better ripe fruit and wild flavors than Mattari. Based on experience, San'ani quality has varied greatly in recent years, with occasional inferior batches exhibiting flat flavors, earthy notes, or excessive fermentation. Careful cupping and selection are essential tasks for coffee merchants—absolutely no room for laziness.

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 shape and smaller size than Mattari, with rich body and high complexity. Generally, it often outperforms Mattari. This is the rarest and most expensive Yemen Mocha (Yemen Mocha is already quite expensive). High-quality Mokha Ismaili is produced in the Hirazi region (though less famous than Bani Matar, it is the best-regarded growing area locally) 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 heavier fermentation notes, occasionally displaying surprisingly rich raisin sweetness. When properly roasted, the coffee beans smell like opening a jar of rich fruit preserves.

Mokha Yafeh

Produced in Yafeh (also known as Yaffe) province in southern Yemen, this is an uncommon Yemen Mocha variety and the only "southern flavor" of Yemen. Production is limited, with most being exported to neighboring United Arab Emirates, making it rarely seen in the international specialty coffee market.

Arabian Mocha

A single-origin coffee from the mountainous regions of Yemen on the southwestern Arabian Peninsula bordering the Red Sea. Among the world's finest cultivated coffees, renowned for its high viscosity and distinctive rich wine-like acidity.

Yemen Mocha achieves different schools of flavor due to different growing regions, much like the chocolate and acidity notes of MATTARI Mocha, and the wildness and fragrance of SANANI Mocha.

Characteristics of Yemen Coffee

Despite Yemen coffee's superior quality, smooth texture, and aromatic profile, it has its shortcomings—namely inconsistent quality assurance and uncertain coffee bean grading systems. Traditionally, Yemen's best coffee beans come from Mattari, followed by Sharki, and then Sanani. These coffee beans have low caffeine content. Dark-roasted Yemen coffee often displays chocolate-like bittersweet notes, influencing today's chocolate-flavored specialty coffees that are also labeled with the term "Mocha." Yemen coffee possesses the world's most unique, rich, and fascinating complex aromas: red wine fragrance, wildness, dried fruit, blueberry, grape, cinnamon, tobacco, sweet spices, woody notes, and even chocolate flavors. You can see various adjectives applied to Yemen 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 include as many as four variants: "Mokha," "Makha," "Morkha," and "Mukha"—all representing the same meaning.

Yemen Mocha offers complex and varied flavors, presenting a significant challenge for coffee roasters to bring out its best characteristics! Light to medium roasts reveal fruity sweetness, gentleness, warm natural fermentation flavors; dark roasts showcase rich red wine aroma and bittersweet chocolate aftertaste.

Flavor: Exotic, slightly wine-like, spicy and stimulating, distinctive—a must-try experience

Recommended Roasting Method: Medium roast

Rating: ★★★ Excellent

Yemen Coffee Market

Yemen's coffee is exported from December to April of the following year. A persistent problem in the past has been that coffee produced in the north was adulterated with inferior quality before being shipped from the southern port of Aden. Only coffee shipped from the port of Hodeida can be confirmed as genuinely produced in the north. Most of Yemen's coffee grows under natural conditions, primarily due to growers' lack of financial resources.

Yemen Mocha Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

Yemen Mocha coffee beans roasted by FrontStreet Coffee offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide exceptional value—at only around 85 RMB per 227-gram package. Calculating at 15 grams of coffee beans per cup, one package can make 15 cups, with each cup costing only about 6 RMB. Compared to café prices that often run dozens of RMB per cup, this represents a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee: A Guangzhou-based roastery with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and obscure beans. They also provide online shop services.

https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Related recommendations: What is Mocha coffee? Yemen Mocha-Mattari natural bean is Yemen's true Mocha coffee bean

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473