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Yemen Mocha Mattari

01 | Region Introduction

The History of Yemen

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

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

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

Regardless, perhaps due to historical reasons dating back to ancient times, it is said that the people of this land still possess a strong sense of self-respect and are extremely independent.

Yemen, which continues the lifestyle preserved thousands of years ago, reportedly has many areas where the central government's authority cannot reach. Ethiopia, separated from Yemen by the sea, also exported coffee through the port of Mocha, which is why Ethiopian sun-dried coffee is often called Mocha (such as Ethiopia Harra Mokka). Yemen Mocha is the pioneer of world coffee trade. Yemen's contribution to spreading delicious coffee worldwide is undeniable, and it's called "Arabia Coffee," which later gave rise to the 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 and has become a historical port with only white sandy beaches.

Despite this, it still "travels far and wide" under the name of coffee.

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

Yemen coffee grows on steep terrain with little rainfall, poor soil, and insufficient sunlight. These unique, difficult, and unfavorable conditions for coffee growth have cultivated the irreplaceable Yemen Mocha in the coffee world. The main coffee producing regions are Sanani, Mattari, and Ismaili.

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

02 | Mocha Coffee Processing Method

Ancient Natural Sun-Drying Method

Yemen is a classic example of ancient sun-dried flavor and is the world's only country that produces entirely sun-dried coffee. The traditional water-free processing method 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 millimeters, far below the optimal 1,500-2,000 millimeters of rainfall for Arabica.

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

The central highlands of Yemen feature rolling mountains and rugged terrain. Small farmers mostly adopt a decentralized planting method—several plants on steep slopes, dozens on terraces or cliffs—each with different soil and microclimates, resulting in different aromatic components.

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

Yemen's natural sun-drying processing 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 earthen courtyards to receive sunlight. 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. Yemen coffee has rich, complex, wild, and mellow flavors, with strong fermentation notes and lower acidity. Additionally, Yemen coffee often contains an uncertain factor (the timing of seasonal rainfall) that makes it unpredictable, making it not an exaggeration to call it the most special coffee in the world.

03 | Mocha Coffee 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.

The coffee from the Mattari region has characteristics: "unattractive" appearance, uneven sizes, significant color differences, looking like it's composed of small pea beans and empty defective beans.

Green Bean Information:

Yemen Mocha Mattari - Yemen Mocha

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 and rich.

04 | Mocha Coffee Roasting Analysis

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

FrontStreet Coffee suggests keeping good data records before roasting: the moisture content and density of the coffee beans, origin, processing method, ambient temperature and humidity in the roasting room, etc., and plan your roasting curve. Record relevant chemical and physical changes during the roasting process, which will help you better understand the final roasting results and improve the roasting curve.

Roasting machine: Yangjia 800N,投入 550g green beans

Roasting Profile:

Preheat the roaster to 170°C, open airflow to 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 140°C, keeping airflow unchanged. Roast until 5'00", temperature reaches 147.2°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete. Adjust heat to 110°C, change airflow to 4.

At the 8'00 minute, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to the first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of the first crack. At 8'23", the first crack begins, adjust heat to 60°C, open airflow completely (adjust heat very carefully, not too small to stop cracking sound), and 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 slight grape acidity appearing at the end of palate changes. The spicy aftertaste is long, with sweet and smooth mouthfeel and a Middle Eastern milk tea feeling that lasts for a long time. The bottom of the cup 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 fermented flavor is the 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 a certain support strength to perform the "blocking" function. To avoid weakening the support of the coffee bed, one must grasp the "intensity of the water stream," "position of water pouring," plus "stable circular motion technique" to form a complete "water pouring technique."

1. Filter: V60

2. Water temperature: 88°C

3. Grind size: Small Fuji grind setting 4

4. Roast degree: Medium roast

5. Bloom time: 25 seconds

Flavor: Balanced, chocolate, persistent caramel sweetness in the aftertaste

FrontStreet Coffee's recommended technique: 15g coffee, Small Fuji ghost tooth blade grind setting 4, V60 filter, 88-89°C water temperature. First pour 30g water for 25s bloom, then pour to 104g and stop. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 220g. Don't use the last 5g. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time about 2:00 (counting from completing the bloom pour).

Important Notice :

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