The popular Mocha coffee can be traced to have been grown in the mountains of Yemen hundreds of years ago. It can be spelled as “Moka,” “Mocca,” or “Moca.” It was first grown in the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.Some coffees resemble Mocha from Yemen. That is coffee from eastern Ethiopia from the eastern town of Harar. That coffee is sold as Mocha because the two share many similarities. The Yemen Mocha is chocolaty. Coffee from Yemen and that from Ethiopia tastes like coffee and hot chocolate.

The Arabian Mocha is the world’s most traditional coffee grown in the central mountains of Yemen over 500 years ago. It was grown on terraces on the mountainsides. Ripe beans were picked, dried, and spread to sundry when clouds dissipate. Water was collected during winter in small reservoirs to irrigate the plants to keep them alive during summer. The dominant coffee variety found in Yemen is Arabica, similar to the one found in Ethiopia. There are hundreds of names that refer to coffee varieties in Yemen. The most popular one is called Ismaili that produced small rounded beans similar to split peas. In the market, you are going to get Yemen coffee with a variety of names. The distinction is majorly based on the district where they are grown. Major types are Ismaili grown in Bani Ismaili district. Mattari comes from Bani Mattar in Sana’a district. Hirazi is grown in the mountains west of Sana’a.Yemen’s coffee exports account for up to 1% of global coffee production. Ninety percent of the world’s coffee can be traced to Yemen. Coffee brings sustainable income to farmers despite them struggling with economic and security challenges. Coffee produced in Yemen was exported through Port of Al-Mokha onto the Red Sea. They were shipped to Europe by water. On arrival, the beans were loaded on camels and taken to Alexandria, Egypt’s capital. The Dutch used wooden boats to transport the coffee to the European market. They sold it as Mocha.The Ottomans managed to build a monopoly by ensuring no other country produced coffee. They boiled and roasted the beans partially before export. This worked for 150 years before the rise of Europeans and Ottomans lost their lucrative monopoly.Bana Budan, a Muslim pilgrim, managed to smuggle seven seedlings and cultivated them successfully in southern India in the 1600s. He is credited for the fall of the Ottoman Stranglehold. The Dutch started growing coffee on Java island in Indonesiaa .Yemen and the Ottoman Empire lost its monopoly on the global coffee trade. 90% of coffee drank in Amsterdam was grown in Yemen, but five years later, 90% of coffee came from java island.Coffee planting was spread to all colonized countries. Several principles contributed to the spread of coffee across the world. Typica and Bourbon is the most culturally and genetically group of coffee. The variety is dominant in Brazil, Latin America, India, and Indonesia. All the Arabica coffee being consumed today is from coffee descendants from Yemen. Coffee in Yemen is majorly grown on the mountainsides. The struggle with geopolitical conflicts has created hindrances for producers to access the international market. That has led to a decline in coffee production.However, the country has a promising potential for future dominance in the world market.