Yemen Coffee Overview

19th Century Mokha Coffee Retained its Status as Rare and Valuable

Yemen was the original commercial coffee source, brought to Europe by Arabic traders or their trading partners. It is also the source of most coffee grown in the world today: BourbonA coffee cultivar; a cross between Typica and Bourbon, originally grown in Brazil: Mundo Novo is a commercial coffee cultivar; a natural hybrid between “Sumatra” and Red Bourbon,… and Typica came from Yemen. In a way, Yemen has a greater claim as the originIn coffee talk, it refers to a coffee-producing region or country; such as, “I was just at origin.” Of course “Origin” for most product we use is not… of coffee as EthiopiaEthiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, or a coffee cultivar: Ethiopia, or more specifically the Empire under Haile Selassie,  was known as Abyssinia. The name is Latin, derived from…, because recorded history of coffee dates back 1200 years. Yet most agree that coffee was not native to Yemen; it came from the highlands of Western Ethiopia (some claim Jimma, others Kaffa). It was transported along with other goods and slaves and was cultivated all along the way, ending up in the Eastern Ethiopian kingdom of Harar. From there it came to Yemen where it was grown for local consumption and to trade around Arabia, the Mediterranean, and beyond.

But in the era of maritime trade by sailing vessels, personal “taste” was cultivated by coffee aged in the holds of the ship, as with the legendary Old Brown JavaThere are several types of Abyssinia variety coffee, but they are not from Ethiopia but rather Indonesia. Abyssinia 3 = AB3.  PJS Cramer, a Dutch plant researcher, introduced this variety… that would leave IndonesiaUSDA is (obviously) the United States Department of Agriculture. USDA also had coffee plant breeding programs in the past and one variety they distributed to Indonesia and was… green and arrive in the US the color of wood chips (and the taste of them as well). It seems that acidic brightnessA euphemistic term we use often to describe acidity in coffee. A bright coffee has more high, acidic notes. : A euphemistic term to describe acidity in coffee…. in coffee was not appreciated, nor was a clean taste, or freshness. So in that sense, Yemeni coffee is still judged by a different yardstick than many prized wet-processed coffees of the modern day.

In many areas the coffee is grown on terraces with stone supporting walls, some dating back 2000 years! The only reason the soil in the terraces isn’t completely depleted and can sustain coffee growth is the historical lack of intensive farming methods. With such scant water supply, most areas couldn’t sustain intensive crops with high yielding output anyway, so the nutritional requirements have been in a sustainable balanceSuggests a harmony and proportion of qualities, and implies mildness since no one quality dominates.: Balance is both an obvious and slippery taste term. It implies a harmony… with what the soil can produce.

“Mokha ” or “Mocca” or “Mocha” or “Moka” ?

Mokha (Al-Mahka) is the port city that Yemeni coffee ships from. It has nothing to do with chocolate. Why has Yemeni coffee been called “Yemen Moka” in the global market? Because in the coffee trade was too complicated to name all the little sub-regions where the coffee is actually grown, even though they do produce notably different coffees in terms of the cup. At times some of the dry-process Ethiopian coffees will also call themselves Moka (Moka Harar etc) I believe to associate themselves with the taste profile they share with coffee from Yemen.

Mokha is usually spelled in the trade as “Mocca” or “Mocha” or “Moka” …but in fact the most correct spelling is the one you will never see: “Al-Mahka”, which is the truest to the Arabic spelling. I am trying to use it, but you will see I lapse, or in fact want to indicate also the way I am seeing it spelled on the burlap bag. Yemen is on the Asian continent (on the Arabian Peninsula), although it is really just a stone’s throw from Africa, across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. For coffee reasons, and since there is no other “Arabian” coffee, we put it in the family of tastes that are North African.

It has been surprising that with all the turmoil in Yemen, the coffee trade continues. I believe it is a good sign, as our trading partners are part of a Yemeni society that seeks economic cooperation, as they also are importers of appliances into Yemen. Promoting Yemeni products in the world can only aid in a better understanding of common ground, and respectful difference (We also have a great appreciation of the cuisine, and some of our favorite restaurants are Yemeni).