Have you heard of flavored mocha and Yemen mocha, but have you heard of mocha as a coffee variety?

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What is Mocha Coffee?

When you think of mocha, do you think of the flavored mocha coffee with chocolate added, or the monument in the coffee world—Yemeni Mocha coffee? Today, FrontStreet Coffee wants to share with you not the flavored mocha coffee, nor Yemeni Mocha, but the Mocha coffee variety itself!

Generally speaking, mocha refers to any coffee with chocolate flavor, including a simple mixture of hot chocolate and coffee. In fact, the word mocha originally had nothing to do with chocolate or a combination of chocolate and coffee. The word appeared as early as 1773, when it referred to various types of coffee.

Mocha coffee beans are actually named after the port of Mocha (Al Mokha) in Yemen, because coffee beans were originally shipped from Yemen's 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. Despite this, it is still renowned worldwide through the name "mocha."

Origin and Characteristics of Mocha Coffee

Mocha coffee beans grow in the central mountainous region of the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen. For a time, the word "mocha" was almost synonymous with "coffee," and this term frequently appeared on everything related to coffee, even when it had nothing to do with Yemeni coffee.

Because it was initially cultivated in Yemen, it was named Mocha and later brought to Réunion Island. The Mocha coffee variety is considered a variant of Bourbon coffee beans. Because the beans are relatively small, they are genetically close to Bourbon coffee and also have a genetic relationship with the Laurina variety. (There is another theory that this is a separate variety discovered in Yemen.)

Botanical Features

The beans are small and round, and are very susceptible to coffee leaf rust disease. The coffee tree grows in a conical shape with short leaf spacing, and the leaves are small and oval. The flower clusters are large but the flowers are very small, and the fruits and seeds are the smallest among Arabica varieties. The seeds of Mocha coffee trees look more like split peas than coffee beans.

Small Mocha Characteristics

Because Mocha coffee beans are very small, they are also called "Small Mocha." Small Mocha grown in Central and South America has short trees and small beans with low yields. Generally, Small Mocha beans are about 10-11 mesh, which is much smaller than typical Central and South American coffee beans. Notably, Small Mocha has a flat side, meaning one fruit contains two raw beans. Of course, Small Mocha also has peaberries, but the proportion is only 2%, far lower than the 5-10% of typical Arabica varieties.

Roasted Mocha Beans

We can look at the roasted Mocha beans—they are small and round, with relatively uniform overall size!

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters and Flavor Profile

Parameters: 15g coffee grounds, water temperature 89°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, medium-fine grind (BG 5T: 58% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve), segmented extraction.

Brewing method: Use 30g of water for bloom. Stop blooming when you see the coffee bed change from moist to dry, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. Use a small water stream to pour in the center in a circular motion until reaching 122g, then stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until reaching 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the beginning of bloom) Extraction time is 1'40".

Flavor profile: The dry aroma has fermented notes, while the wet aroma has floral notes. On the palate, there are notes of raspberry, fruit candy, cream, chocolate, and the sweetness of raisins.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473